SYRACUSE, N.Y. — On a day meant to celebrate law enforcement at the New York State Fair, Syracuse Police Chief Mark Rusin was also talking about one of the biggest challenges facing his department: finding enough people to wear the badge.
Back in July, Syracuse Police told CNY Central the department had about 64 vacancies. Rusin said Monday that number is still about the same.
“We’re about to hire another class where we swear in several members on September 21st, so we’ll be able to give you a better update then,” Rusin said. “I am optimistic at this point. I think we are turning the corner. I would like for it to turn faster for sure.”
The department is offering a $10,000 hiring bonus, the civil service exam is free, and residency rules have been temporarily expanded. Rusin said those incentives are helping, but getting enough qualified applicants remains difficult.
“We do filter out 70 to 80 percent of the people that come through the background process,” Rusin said. “But you need to have a large number of people to take the test.”
Rusin also confirmed Syracuse Police’s dedicated recruiter recently retired. He said recruitment has not stopped, though, and that officers in the department’s training section also recruit potential candidates.
“Recruiting is everybody’s job,” Rusin said, describing conversations between officers and people who may be interested in joining the department as one of the most effective ways to bring in new applicants.
The staffing shortage is also affecting how some police work is organized.
The Syracuse Police Benevolent Association recently said the department’s Gang Violence Task Force had been eliminated because of staffing issues.
Russin did not characterize the change the same way, but said SPD has had to move personnel and make “strategic operational decisions” about where work is done.
“You never want to have to move things around the way that we are moving them,” Rusin said. “I feel super confident with what we are doing and the work getting done, but we need to get to a point where we don’t have to make those tough decisions anymore.”
Rusin said gang-related investigative work is now being handled through the department’s Special Investigation Division, with assistance from the Central New York Crime Analysis Center.
He also said staffing shortages have forced other internal changes over time and stressed the importance of both recruitment and retention.
On the retention side, Rusin pointed to programs aimed at keeping experienced officers on the job longer, saying losing a 20-year veteran to another profession can be difficult to replace.
Even with another class expected to be sworn in later this month, Rusin said rebuilding the department to the staffing level he believes Syracuse needs will not happen quickly.
“I think you are several years out to get back up to 425 to 450,” Rusin said.
For now, Rusin says the department’s focus is on getting more people into the hiring pipeline and keeping experienced officers from walking out the door.