The Cincinnati Police Department reports it needs a recruit class for each of the next two to three years to maintain its staffing level.
The request was made in the department's budget presentation Monday to a Council committee. Budget manager Ella Topham explained how it would work.
"We'd like to target that recruit class to begin in February each year, and for the next two or three years that would be probably a 30 member recruit class," Topham said.
The department wants to maintain a sworn strength of 1,000 officers.
A class of 56 officers graduated earlier this year. It was the department's first recruit class in several years.
Topham said the recruit class projections are based on anticipated upcoming retirements.
"Our attrition levels will be down for the next two or three years because we're hitting a period were 25 years ago we didn't have recruit classes," Topham said. "So we don't have as many people retiring in the next few years."
The police department also wants to bring in more civilian employees to keep officers on the street and not doing administrative jobs.
"So instead of hiring 10 more officers at a high cost, we'll hire 10 civilians at a lower cost and put those 10 officers on the street," Topham said.
The department also says it has pressing capital budget needs including updating its aging vehicle fleet and upgrading technology used by officers in the field.
