FPD Officer Recruiting Plan – please let the City know your thoughts

Hi everyone.  The staffing levels of our Ferguson Police Department (FPD) are of great concern for all Ferguson residents.  As part of the Consent Decree, the FPD is preparing a recruiting plan for submission to the Court and the Department of Justice.  Here is a LINK to the plan.  If you are concerned about the police staffing levels, now is your chance to make yourself heard to the Council, the City and Department of Justice.

To summarize the plan:

  * The draft plan does a good job of outlining the steps we will take to add new recruits that will go through the police academy.
  * It does not address lateral hires, hiring experienced police officers from other departments or retired officers, even though the city is doing this.
  * The DOJ is likely to be happy with the approach - a rebuilding of our police force from the ground up.
  * The residents will likely not be happy with the plan – it does NOT contain the numeric goals necessary to rebuild our police force anytime soon.

Again, now is your chance to let the Council know your thoughts on recruiting goals and timelines.  Contact your Council, Mayor, City Manager and let them know how important it is that we rebuild police staff levels as quickly as possible.

Thanks everybody for your attention to this.  Working together as a community we can make sure the Council and administration act to pick up the pace of hiring.