The Springfield Police Division is down nearly 20 officers.
“It essentially makes the officer on the street busier,” said Capt. Lee Graf, who has been with the division for more than 20 years.
There are currently 113 officers, down from the city’s ideal 131-member roster, due to retirements and officers leaving for other departments.
“Our response with the critical calls hasn’t been affected, but on some days when we’re right at bare minimum, certainly it will have an effect,” Graf said.
Springfield resident Lisa McKeen said she would like to see more officers.
“Sometimes I don’t think there’s enough because it seems like they can’t patrol everywhere, and they can’t be everywhere at the same time,” she said.
Graf said one of the biggest problems is the pay compared to other police agencies. Officers in Springfield make a maximum of $58,000, compared to the starting pay up to $64,000 in Kettering.
“When you’re competing with some of the more affluent suburbs and things like that, that’s hard to do,” Graf said.
Springfield will begin testing for new recruits in early December.
