WASHINGTON — D.C.’s police department faces a staffing crisis as a majority of senior officers become eligible for retirement, and Mayor Muriel Bowser is introducing emergency legislation to ease the imminent shortage.
Bowser, who said the legislation would help recruit and retain senior detectives and sergeants, said she wants the D.C. Council to move on the legislation as soon as possible.
Many of the department’s senior officers were hired in the early 1990s and are becoming eligible for retirement. A retirement bubble first started to burst around 2014.
The first of two bills Bowser proposed extends the age of candidates for the cadet program from 21 to 25. The program trains young D.C. residents for a career with the department.
The second provides incentives for detectives and sergeants to stay on past the age at which they’re eligible to retire.
“It’s really important for us at this point in time to retain the veteran folks that we have,” said Interim Chief Peter Newsham.
He said the department is being efficient with its staffing, including hiring more “civilian” employees so more officers can patrol the streets.
“So … we’ve shrunk a little bit [but] we haven’t shrunk as much as folks might say,” he said.
MPD has 3,700 officers now but only hires 4 in every 100 applicants, Newsham said.
