CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — At a time when many cities keep hitting red with finding more money for competitive pay for police officers, Chillicothe just got the green light.
“You know, just knowing that you go and put up that you’re hiring up to 11 to 12 officers…that’s great,” Chillicothe Police Chief Ron Meyers said.
Chief Meyers says since 2020, like most agencies across the state, CPD has seen a hit with its officer numbers. In recent years, his department has been crippled by resignations.
“Officers went to other agencies,” he said. “Basically, other agencies came and recruited our officers.”
He’s budgeted for 46 officers and currently has 42. That means less officers are doing more work while doing less of basic programs like community resourcing and community policing.
“But the strain that’s going on…when you look at time off [and] self-care, officers aren’t getting as much time off as they should to take care of themselves,” he said.
Tuesday, the city got some good news.
“We really want to put Chillicothe on a pedestal,” Chillicothe Mayor Luke Feeney said.
Feeney says thanks to state money from the American Rescue Plan Act, $1.6 million is now coming to the department. It was a grant written around Chief Meyers’ plan he wrote up more than two years ago. With this money, on top of the four officers the department is already budgeted for, CPD will be able to hire eight more.
“That’s gonna be more direct patrolling, more traffic enforcement,” Meyers said. “More robust narcotics division [and] a dedicated community policing officer.”
The money will also offer retention bonuses to existing officers and sign-on bonuses for new officers as a way to help ongoing recruiting challenges. And, thanks to a permanent operating levy passed in 2015, Feeney says voters will never be stuck with the bill through an unwanted levy.
“So, if you’re thinking of moving your family here, you’re thinking of committing to a community, the funding for our police force and our fire department is stable and permanent on the income tax,” Feeney said.
Giving the green light for the city to not be a stepping stone to greater things for officers, but to be the destination and to build long-lasting careers.