Richmond police officers are working 18-hour shifts, sometimes sleeping in trailers behind the police station because they do not have time to go home, Assistant Police Chief Tim Simmons told the Fairmede Hilltop Neighborhood Council on Thursday night.
Simmons described a department under extreme strain, with staffing levels at their lowest point in his 17 years with the department.
“We are authorized 147 officers, but we currently have 24 vacancies and 15 officers out on some form of long-term leave, which leaves us 108 available officers,” Simmons said. “Of those, we only have 44 officers that are available for patrol when ideally we should have at least 60 on patrol to adequately cover our beats and provide timely, consistent first responder service.”
At times, the patrol force has been reduced to as few as six or seven officers to cover the entire city, according to Simmons…