Detroit police report surge in officer recruitment due to better pay
DETROIT (FOX 2) - The Detroit Police Department is crediting its strengthened force to better pay – attracting and retaining more officers.
"We all played a great part in fighting and advocating for our officers," said Detroit Police Commissioner Willie Burton.
According to DPD, 41 officers have rejoined the force, and over 300 new officers have been hired in 2023.
"Being a police commissioner here in Detroit, representing the 5th District, I’ve seen many officers come and go in this past decade. But I've also seen so many Detroit residents advocate for officer’s pay and the citizens of Detroit's voices definitely was heard," Burton said.
DPD administrators point to the new contract reached in 2022 for the success, which raised pay for starting officers by $10,000 and allowed for lateral transfers to Detroit from other police departments.
Political leaders say the timing could not be better with Detroit's homicide rate falling to a near 60-year low.
Detroit on pace to have lowest homicide rate in 60 years this year
"This is the day we’ve been waiting for, for a long time," said Mayor Mike Duggan.
"I’m happy for them because they’ve got good leadership there," said Jim Tignanelli, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan.
While Detroit was able to bolster its staffing, that’s not the case for the vast majority of police departments across the metro Detroit area and the rest of the state, Tignanelli said.
"It’s being driven by the fact that there’s nobody in the police academies. We’ve lost really a whole generation of young people that thought this was a good job," he said. "Our best recruiters were always senior officers – your dad, your uncle, your baseball coach who was a guy you admired and also was a policeman. Now most of them will say ‘well there’s no pension, there’s no retirement, health care,’ and the honor has kind of lost its luster a little bit because of a few things."