For the second year in a row, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration has proposed stripping more positions from the city’s shrinking police department. Last year, council members criticized, but eventually approved, Bibb’s proposal to cut 142 vacant officer positions from the police budget.
Cleveland is among several cities since 2020 that has had more officers quit and retire than they’ve been able to recruit. A U.S. Department of Justice report
called it a “historic crisis” and attributed it to a slew of issues: the COVID-19 pandemic,
, community frustration with policing and concerns about officer health and safety. Cleveland has 25% fewer officers than it did before the pandemic.
This year, the mayor’s budget proposal cuts 148 vacant police positions, in large part to
pay for $11.6 million in officer pay raises and retention bonuses
. Despite those increases, and retaining a marketing firm to help recruit candidates, the department currently has fewer than 1,200 officers.