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Richmond police seek to restore environmental officer teams amid staffing shortfall
Summary
At a Public Safety Standing Committee meeting, Chief Rick Edwards said attrition has left the Richmond Police Department with one environmental officer for the entire city and described plans to hire former officers through a 'hire back' program to restore coverage.
The Richmond Police Department told the Public Safety Standing Committee that attrition has reduced its environmental officer program from four officers—one per precinct—to a single officer covering the entire city.
“We had 4 precincts… up until the last several years, we had 1 environmental officer per precinct. Through attrition retirement, we have… only have 1 that is currently working. Her name is Karen Spencer,” Chief Rick Edwards said during the committee’s presentation. He said Spencer is based at Second Precinct but responds to complaints across the city.
Edwards described environmental officers as focused on quality-of-life enforcement that can reduce conditions linked to more serious crime through CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design). He listed…
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