Lexington Police Department short more than 100 officers

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Fraternal Order of Police Bluegrass Lodge 4 President Jeremy Russell took to Facebook to raise his concerns about the Lexington Police Department’s current staffing shortage.

WKYT reached out to the City of Lexington to confirm the current number of shortages. We received the following statement from Lexington Police:

“The Lexington Police Department’s authorized strength is 639. As of 09/18/23, there are 116 vacant positions. There are 15 recruits in the academy, which is scheduled to graduate in December, and we are starting another class in October with 37 recruits.

In addition, we recently started the Police Officer R Program. The program allows us to hire back officers who retired from our agency and bring back years of experience. So far, we have already hired 9 officers through this program. These officers supplement current staffing.

While the police department may not be at authorized strength, we are ensuring areas such as patrol are appropriately staffed to answer calls throughout the city.

We are also actively recruiting for another class, which will start in March 2024. Recruits will earn a $3,000 bonus upon successful completion of the Training Academy. Those looking to apply or learn more can visit www.joinlexpd.com or text JOINLEXPD to (859) 658-1414.”

In his Facebook post, Russell said that Lexington’s current police officers are “being overworked and underappreciated.” He went on to say, “being short staffed means the residents, businesses and visitors to Lexington suffer as well.”

Lexington isn’t alone in this staffing shortage. The Georgetown Police Department is just under 12% short-staffed. They have an authorized strength of 68 and 8 open positions.

Nationally, a survey from the Police Executive Research Forum found agencies are losing officers faster than they can hire new ones. Their data shows 47% more resignations and 19% more retirements in 2022 than in 2019.

According to Russell’s Facebook post, “by the end of the year, there will be 134 officers that can retire whenever they want.”

WKYT reached out to Mayor Linda Gorton for comment and received the following statement:

“Public safety is my top priority. I have demonstrated my support again and again, through significant salary improvements and investments in new equipment and technology for our first responders. Since I became Mayor in 2019, we have raised the starting pay for police officers by more than 42%, and increased pay for existing officers by almost 30%.

Additional millions of dollars have been spent to meet police pension costs. I have increased funding for recruiting. I have also won support for changes in state law that allow retired officers to continue serving on our police force - bringing back years of experience - so far nine officers have been hired back in this program. I have also invested in new technology to better support officers in their work.

Over the past few years, I have worked closely with Chief Weathers, the police department’s staff, the Council, and the Union on this matter. The response of Lexington’s police union, which is operating under a contract that they agreed to, and whose membership was just provided another significant pay increase within the last year, is disappointing.

It has become clear that money alone is not going to resolve this issue. The fact is, police organizations all over the country are facing challenges when it comes to staffing. While our police department may not be at authorized strength, we are ensuring areas such as patrol are appropriately staffed to answer calls throughout the city.”

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