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Renton Councilmembers Van and Rivera look on as Renton Police Chief Jon Schultd describes the staffing challenges his department is working to stay ahead of
Public Safety Committee is one of Renton Council’s six standing subcommittees. With homicides and robberies rapidly rising to all-time highs in our city, these meetings have sparked unusual public interest lately. Yesterday’s meeting covered several important topics, and I’ll touch on more of them in later postings. Today I’ll focus on police staffing.
Renton leaders and residents need to keep a close eye on police staffing as our heavily-burdened police department begins a year that includes at least six likely retirements of veteran officers, and the potential for two-to-three times that number based on the demographics of the workforce. Given that the process of finding and training new officers takes a year at minimum, the work to keep adequate police staffing has to be on-going.
During the meeting that included both a report about major crime rate jumps and the report about likely police retirements, Councilmember Ed Prince prompted Chief Schultd to discuss how Renton police staffing numbers compared to other cities, and what the chief might consider as ideal for our city.
Chief Schultd noted he was going from memory, recalling that Renton has been operating with approximately 1.3 officers per thousand residents, while many areas in the nation operate closer to 2 per thousand (see his followup email below for more precision). The Chief’s response is in line with research by the International Association of Professional City/County Managers (ICMA), which commissioned a report on the topic here. These numbers suggest Renton could have as many as 50% more officers, and be consistent with national and international staffing levels. While there has been no time in our history when we actively defunded our police department, it’s clear by these numbers that Renton Police Department has been operating very lean for some time. While this may have been okay in the past, it’s not working as well lately.
For those of us in attendance concerned about increasing crime rates, the committee discussion was encouraging. Councilmembers Prince and Van showed interest in possibly increasing funding, and Rivera nodded in apparent agreement.
This report was a status and won’t result in any specific action by itself other than approval for the Chief to continue rigorously working to backfill expected coming vacancies in his department. But for the full Council and the community of Renton, the stunning reports about high crime rates and minimum police staffing should set the stage for a more well-staffed department. The City and community should be working together to find more money for the police department. New funding could include bolstering behavioral health units that were added in the past two years, and have proven to be of great service to the department.
The City operates on a tight budget with little margin for additional police. If more money can’t be found, the Renton community should even consider a voter levy to add the necessary officers and behavioral health specialists needed to protect public safety.
Note: The meeting agenda for this meeting can be found here
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Post-Meeting Police Chief email followup to Public Safety Committee:
Chief Jon Schultd had indicated he was commenting from memory during the meeting when asked how Renton staffing compared to national averages, so he followed up with more precise data in an email yesterday. The conclusions don’t really change. Here is an excerpt from his email to public safety committee:
Good morning Public Safety Committee Members,
Thank you again for taking time out of your schedule to meet with us yesterday.
I wanted to make sure that I gave you accurate information last evening when asked about staffing numbers. According to the FBI the 2021 national average of commissioned officers per 1,000 residents was 2.33 ( 2021 LE Employment by State.pdf ). The average for the State of Washington was 1.35, and if I am doing my math correctly the City of Renton is at 1.24 when fully staffed.
Jon Schuldt Chief, Renton Police Department
Rivera nodding isn’t an indication of anything. I sort of have to tune her out as it’s like having a bobble head in attendance.
I suggest you contact her. She deeply cares about safety and the Renton Community.
Oh… boy. This is where the City of Renton’s pension liability to it’s past workers is going to hurt for the next three decades. There’s a reason many municipalities went bankrupt in California.
Randy, thank you for the information, since I have started attending other meetings on Monday evenings, I haven’t been able to show up at the Council meetings like I used to, I depend more on social media, news and email.
In response to the anonymous comment, I agree that Rivera nodding, isn’t an indication of anything, she could just be showing she is alive, might have decided to support the citizens of Renton or acknowledgement of knowing that she may be a 1 term council member, or thinking something else.
Communities of color and low-income communities often face the brunt of over-policing, excessive use of force, and discriminatory practices by law enforcement agencies when the police are used to protect the interests of the privileged.
Therefore, while it is important to address public safety concerns, it is equally important to consider the impact of increasing police presence and funding on these communities. Research has shown that increased policing and incarceration are not effective in reducing crime rates in the long-term and can perpetuate systemic racism and inequality.
This includes funding social services such as mental health resources, substance abuse treatment programs, and affordable housing initiatives. By investing in these areas, we can create safer and healthier communities while also reducing the need for a heavy police presence.
I’m guessing there’s a chance that you’re so educated that you have trouble figuring out where the instructions to boil water are.
It’s concerning to hear that Renton has been operating with fewer officers per capita, and we need to address this issue immediately. It shows in the crime statistics.
It was a very interesting meeting. There was so much information, it really cuts to the nuts-&-bolts of Renton’s current police situation. Randy, I hope you can get those stats Chief rattled off, of the dramatic increase in specific crimes. And you bring up good points about future funding for our police. It’s good to have the Community paying attention these days.
The need for more police officers is obvious, but getting anyone to join the police force is going difficult as the Democratic party has put a target on the back of every police officer.