- The City of Charlotte has been struggling to recruits for years.
- Two positions have been open for two years.
Charlotte has been turning to social media and college visits to find potential officers.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
"In the last 10 years, this department has been fully staffed for three weeks, "
We are continuing to follow the ongoing staffing shortages at local police departments in Eaton County. The city of Charlotte has been struggling to recruits for years.
Charlotte Chief of Police Paul Brentar has been with the department for the last 21 years. He says he's enjoyed most of the years, but the last decade has been a battle, and in recent years, Brentar says his staff is struggling to respond to calls effectively in the city,
"Budgeted for 17 officers, we are only at 15, so we have two openings; we haven't been able to fill those openings for a long time,"
Those positions have been open for two years, a far cry from when Chief Brentar started his journey at the department in 2002; he says candidates are few and far between.
"In fact, I can tell you, when I was hired here 21 years ago, there
was 265 people going for one position, and now you're begging people to do the job,"
While Charlotte has been trying its best to recruit college students at Olivet and posting to
social media to help attract talent, research shows this has been an ongoing issue. According to Bridge Michigan, the police officer shortage has become a national issue. In 2001, there were 23,000 police officers working in Michigan today, that number has dropped to 18,500.
"Definitely, it's a stress on your staff. That's the balance between, providing the level of service you want to provide, compared to the level of service you can provide,"
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