Greenwood police chief to patrol streets due to ongoing staffing problems
GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — Starting next year, you may be seeing more of the Greenwood police chief and other administrators on the streets. That’s because staffing problems will have them ditching their offices and serving as patrol officers.
The Assistant Police Chief, Matt Fillenwarth spends most of his days in his office, trying to figure out a solution to the department’s downsized police force.
“We’re an older department anyway and our staffing levels have not always kept up with the growth of the city,” said Fillenwarth.
With 55 officers, Fillenwarth says Greenwood operates on half the staff as cities with a comparable size, like Carmel. That’s after approval to add more officers.
“They were able to come up with more money and we’re adding three brand new patrolman positions, starting in 2016, explained Fillenwarth.
Add three openings to that due to retirements in 2015, plus four more expected for next year; altogether there will be 10 openings. That means more than 16 percent of the department’s force will be brand new.
“When you have a large part of your department that doesn’t have, they have under 5 years of experience in police work, there are a lot of concerns,” said Fillenwarth.
Also a concern, the seven months training required of new officers. So, Fillenwarth and other leaders of the department are preparing to trade in their desks, for police cars to help patrol the streets. It’s meant to be a quick fix. But, for long term, they hope to pass a food and beverage tax giving the department money for more officers. It’s something they tried for unsuccessfully
Sports Plus owner Scott Beasley would support the tax. It would add an additional 1 percent tax onto food and drink purchases at restaurants and bars.
“I eat lunch in this area in Greenwood every day, so it would be something that would affect me, but it’s something I wouldn’t mind if the mayor and police department and the city council thinks that’s something they need to help keep the citizens of Greenwood safe,” said Beasley.
There is already a pool of applicants who have passed all of their agility and written tests. They’re just waiting on those officers to officially retire before they begin training at the police academy.