DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Police departments across the country are facing a shortage of officers to fill their ranks.
In Daytona Beach the officer shortage has become such a concern that Mayor Derrick Henry called on city staff and police chief Jakari Young to work on a retention and recruitment plan for the police department.
Currently, out of the 242 sworn positions, the department is short 32 officers, roughly 14% of the force.
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Mike Scudiero is with the union that represents officers with the Daytona Beach police department. He said the issues with officer retention are not unique to Daytona Beach.
“This is a real problem and while it’s not exclusive to Daytona Beach, this profession has to respond to these challenges,” Scudiero said.
Scudiero shared a copy of a current proposal that is in the works.
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The plan calls for a $3 an hour raise for all officers, a 5% raise for officers who join the department with at least two years experience and a 10% raise for those joining with at least five years experience.
It also proposes paying officer recruits who are attending the law enforcement academy provided they sign a commitment to work for the department upon graduation.
Scuidero says the proposal could keep the department from losing officers to other agencies and private sector jobs that pay more and offer less stressful environments.
The mayor and city commission have yet to review the proposal.
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