After hosting a press conference on December 5, 2016, regarding Phoenix Police Department staffing shortages, PLEA met with the City Manager, Mayor, and every member of the City Council to address this critical issue. We have provided them with facts and figures showing the impact to not only the citizens we serve, but to Patrol officers, who shoulder the brunt of this shortage.
Phoenix is the sixth largest city in the country with a geographical footprint of 530 square miles, which includes vast expanses of open desert, mountain ranges, and other natural and man-made boundaries and features which add to the challenge of providing adequate police services to our citizens.
PLEA recently produced this video outlining our concerns about current staffing levels.
PLEA is advocating staffing the Phoenix Police Department at 2.5 officers per 1000 residents, which would put us at 4,000 sworn personnel. This would allow adequate staffing in patrol, which would reduce response times on calls for service and reduce caseloads and backlogs for detectives in investigative details.