But the department has struggled with staffing issues this year and only has 342 officers.
The police department expects it will be able to hire more than two dozen new officers using nearly $4.6 million in federal COVID rescue funds that are coming from the state.
Dayton’s grant was one of the largest in the state.
“I think we’re headed in the right direction,” said Dayton police Lt. Col. Eric Henderson, assistant chief of police, during budget discussions earlier this year.
The only larger single award went to the Attorney General’s Office for the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network. The Cleveland Police Department received several awards that combined are larger than Dayton’s.
The funds are meant to help first responder agencies address increases in violent crime and reduce the impact COVID has had on staffing levels and first responders’ wellness, the state said.
“The grants are (a) big boost to law enforcement agencies that have seen their staffing levels decline since the pandemic and are having difficulties attracting new officers,” said Bret Crow, communications director for the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
“They also will help a great deal for agencies to implement violent reduction strategies that may not have been possible without the funding.”
The state grant funding will help the city hire 26 officers and cover the costs of their payroll for the next two years, said Melissa Wilson, Dayton’s deputy director of procurement, management and budget.
After that, the city’s general fund will shoulder the costs.
On Jan. 20, 2020, pre-COVID, the Dayton Police Department had about 355 sworn employees, 46 staff positions and 17 police recruits (418 total filled positions), according to the agency’s application seeking state COVID rescue funds.
When its grant application was submitted earlier this year, the Dayton Police Department had about 339 sworn officers, 38 support staff and 26 police recruits (403 total positions).
The police department in its grant application said its goal is to have 365 sworn officers and 429 total positions, which includes an annual recruit class of 20.
Dayton leaders as part of a campaign to get Issue 9 passed promised to increase the number of police officers the city employs by about 20, from about 345 to to 365.
Credit: Marshall Gorby
Credit: Marshall Gorby
Issue 9 was the temporary income tax hike approved by Dayton voters in late 2016 that lasts eight years.
But police said there is a national shortage of officers, and departments like Dayton’s have seen fewer applicants and some current officers are electing to leave the profession.
The police department has had nearly 40 retirements and resignations this year — more than twice as many as normal, Henderson said.
The Dayton Police Department averaged less than 19 departures due to attrition annually between 2013 and 2021, police data show. The agency added more officers than it lost in five of those nine years.
The police department predicts it could lose 25 officers next year due to attrition.
A police class of 16 recruits will graduate in February, and a new class of 32 is budgeted to begin the following month, said Henderson. The police department also is adding some officers through “lateral transfers,” meaning they come from other law enforcement agencies.
Dayton Police Department attrition and hires
2013 – lost 18 to attrition. Added 37 new officers
2014 – lost 23 to attrition. Added 21 new officers
2015 – lost 22 to attrition. Added 30 new officers
2016 – lost 17 to attrition. Added 30 new officers
2017 – lost 19 to attrition. Added 28 new officers
2018 – lost 15 to attrition. Added 13 new officers
2019 – lost 20 to attrition. Added 20 new officers
2020 – lost 15 to attrition. Added 16 new officers
2021 – lost 21 to attrition. Added 19 new officers
2022 – lost 39 to attrition. Added 27 new officers
2023 – projected to lose 25 to attrition
SOURCE: Dayton Police Department
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