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Police chief urges council to preserve officer position, warns staffing cut would strain service
Summary
Norfolk Police Chief told the council that proposed removal of one sworn officer would reduce sworn staffing to 41, push overtime higher and risk pulling SROs from schools; he cited rising DWI arrests and an 18% increase in calls for service as evidence the department is operating lean.
Norfolk’s police chief urged the City Council during the June 8 budget review to preserve a sworn officer position proposed for elimination, saying the department is already operating below levels the city previously authorized and that cutting a slot would intensify staffing strain.
“Please preserve the officer position,” the chief said, urging the council to delay any permanent cut for at least the fiscal year and to explore temporary measures such as delaying the hire until January or using grant relief. He told the council the department is budgeted for 43 sworn officers but currently fields 41, which — excluding two community service officers — yields roughly 1.56 officers per 1,000 residents in a community of about 26,300.
The chief framed the argument in operational terms: calls for service are up about 18% this year, DWI arrests rose from 37 last year to 72 through May, and traffic-enforcement activity is up 77%. He warned that losing a sworn slot would likely increase overtime costs, reduce proactive traffic enforcement and special assignments, and could force the department to pull school resource officers back to street duty at times of tight staffing.
Council members pressed for cost details. Staff estimated restoring the officer would add about $119,000–$120,000 to the base budget (including related dispatch and equipment costs), which would raise the total general-fund ask by roughly 2.2 percentage points in the police package.
The chief said some items in the police budget are grant-dependent and would not be purchased if grant awards do not materialize. He also described workforce pressures that make staffing unpredictable — three officers are in the Guard or Reserve and could be deployed, and training, injuries and other absences can reduce available headcount quickly.
The budget presentation at the hearing was informational only; no formal action or vote occurred. Council members and staff signaled they will weigh the operational case the chief laid out against broader budget pressures and other competing priorities as they draft the final FY27 recommendation.
