Hundreds apply for Phoenix police civilian jobs opened during shortage of sworn officers
More than 600 people have applied for a couple dozen new civilian jobs at the Phoenix Police Department that were posted three weeks ago to alleviate its ongoing staffing shortage.
Law enforcement agencies across the country experienced a wave of retirements and departures and were struggling to recruit police officers in the year after George Floyd was killed by former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin. Mass protests where many called for reforming or defunding the police and the COVID-19 pandemic were believed to be some reasons for current staffing issues.
Phoenix police has been at the center of several controversies in recent years triggering lawsuits and investigations. Last year, the Department of Justice announced it would investigate claims of abuse, excessive use of force and discrimination by Phoenix police.
That same year, the police department — which nearly met its 3,125 sworn personnel hiring goal in 2020 — saw just over 270 officers leave in 2021. Now with 2,696 officers, the department sits at its lowest level since at least 2015 following a years-long hiring freeze.
"That's the most we've ever had and I've been here, in May it'll be 32 years, so certainly it's the most during my tenure," Phoenix police Executive Assistant Chief Michael Kurtenbach said, of the number of officers who left in 2021.
Of its total officers, 1,001 are currently assigned to patrol, which Kurtenbach previously referred to as "the backbone of the department." However, because the patrol staff was 95 less than the minimum needed to adequately respond to calls, the agency was planning to move about 120 detectives and detail officers back to patrol in June.
Kurtenbach previously noted that a little more than 90 patrol officers were in transitional duty, meaning they had been injured or otherwise unavailable to work. The department in recent months experienced an uptick of assaults against its officers, including the shooting of Tyler Moldovan in December and an ambush in February that left nine officers injured.
In the meantime, Phoenix police was granted unanimous approval by city leaders in early March to hire 33 new civilians to assist with some police work. No additional funding for the positions were requested since it was already available in the police department's budget, according to an agenda for the meeting.
The civilians would first be hired and then the approximately 120 detectives and detail officers would be reorganized to patrol.
"As we continue to lose sworn members of the department, it's incumbent upon us to evolve as an agency and evolve as a profession," Kurtenbach said at a recent Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee meeting. "There are certain things that it doesn't make sense for a uniform sworn officer to do and there are other things that we can't continue to do as we have to focus on greater priorities."
Twenty-five civilians would be hired as police civilian investigators to assist detectives at a crime scene, with impounding, and research at the office among other behind-the-scenes duties, according to Kurtenbach.
Another eight civilians would be hired as police assistants, which Kurtenbach described as "quasi-police." They would be allowed to patrol in a marked vehicle, help investigate non-injury crashes and take reports in cases where no suspects are present such as theft, Kurtenbach explained.
The civilian investigator positions had 649 applicants while the assistant positions has 191, Kurtenbach said. The applications for those positions have since closed and Kurtenbach said they would "move at lightspeed" to fill them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reach the reporter at chelsea.curtis@arizonarepublic.com or follow her on Twitter @curtis_chels.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hundreds apply for Phoenix police civilian jobs opened during shortage
