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Richmond Police aim to restore environmental officers to every precinct after retirements
Summary
Chief Rick Edwards told the Public Safety Standing Committee the department now has one environmental officer after attrition and seeks to use hire-back and recruitment to restore positions to each precinct to handle quality-of-life enforcement.
Chief Rick Edwards of the Richmond Police Department told the Public Safety Standing Committee that the department’s environmental officer program has fallen from four officers — one assigned to each police precinct — to a single officer through retirements.
"I'm Rick Edwards. I'm the chief of police for the City Of Richmond," Edwards said. He identified the remaining environmental officer as Karen Spencer, based in the Second Precinct, and said she currently handles code-enforcement complaints citywide.
Edwards described the environmental officer role as focused on quality-of-life and code-enforcement issues that contribute to broader public-safety concerns through crime-prevention principles (CPTED), including graffiti, abandoned or unattended vehicles, tall grass and other blight. He said the department aims to bring positions back through a mix of recruiting and a "hire back" program that re-employs retired Richmond officers in part-time roles. "We have about 70 openings we're trying to fill this calendar year alone," Edwards said; he also noted a recent academy graduation of 23 new officers and that the department holds hiring events.
During the committee exchange, council members and the chief discussed operational details and limits of police authority. Edwards said environmental officers remain sworn officers so they can issue criminal citations, make arrests and access law-enforcement databases, but he acknowledged opportunities to civilianize some duties. The chief said the department would still partner with other city units — including public works — and with specialized teams such as the HOPE unit (homeless outreach prevention enforcement) and the CRT pairing two RPD officers with clinicians from Richmond Behavioral Health.
Council members raised recurring resident complaints about bulky waste and illegal tire dumping at repeat locations; Edwards said the department uses camera and trail-cam surveillance in persistent dumping spots and has had prosecutions where license-plate evidence was recovered. He also clarified enforcement differences for abandoned vehicles: police may tag and remove vehicles left on public streets ("72 hours," Edwards said after tagging), but vehicles on private property generally fall to code enforcement and not police to tag.
Edwards said he would like to return to one environmental officer per precinct and welcomed committee support for recruitment and publicity for hiring events. No formal committee action or vote was taken on staffing or funding during the meeting.
