Police assistants could boost shrunken Phoenix force

Civilian workers — not sworn police officers — could soon handle some non-emergency calls to the Phoenix Police Department, such as fender benders or minor burglaries, if a budget proposal released this week gets City Council approval.

City Manager Ed Zuercher has proposed growing the city’s ranks of non-sworn police assistants to combat a spike in response times that came after a hiring freeze shrunk the police force by more than 600 officers during the recession.

His budget includes $1.3 million to hire 16 police assistants in the fiscal year that starts July 1 — a 13 percent increase in the non-sworn ranks. The city projects it will have a surplus next year, though it expects a sizable deficit thereafter.

Zuercher said hiring civilians to handle more basic calls for service could help reduce response times for less cost. Non-sworn police employees have smaller salaries and pensions and aren't as expensive to train as regular officers.

The biggest differences with traditional officers are that police assistants don't have the authority to arrest, aren't trained for use-of-force situations and don't carry firearms.

Who are police assistants?

Police spokesman Sgt. Jonathan Howard said the department already has 122 assistants working in various roles, from light-rail security to clerical positions. Now, Zuercher wants to expand that to some patrol calls.

Howard said non-sworn employees, who wear light-blue uniforms, will respond only to priority three calls. Those include non-urgent incidents like a not-in-progress burglary. They also would handle some traffic accidents.

“A police aide will not be responding to emergency situations," he said.

Hiring more non-sworn personnel for the department is expected to free up officers to focus on more serious calls, where a crime is still in progress or that involve a violent offense. They would also handle major traffic accidents.

And Zuercher hopes the relief, however minor, will ease concerns from leaders and residents about staffing levels.

Staffing "crisis"

Phoenix is hiring more police to recover from its hiring freeze, but still cannot afford enough sworn officers to rebuild its shrunken force to pre-recession levels.

The city has about 2,860 officers and has a goal to reach 3,125 by 2018. That's significantly less than the peak of 3,375 sworn employees in 2008, and the department has reassigned some detectives and sergeants to street patrols due to the shortage.

Meanwhile, Phoenix has seen an uptick in violent crime, though crime is still far below historic highs of the 1990s. The number of homicides last year, 149, was up 32 percent from 2015.

MAP: Maricopa County homicides, 2016 | 8 killings in just over a mile, and other facts

The police union has called the department's staffing a "crisis” situation. They want the city to immediately ramp up recruiting and bring more than 1,100 new officers on board.

Phoenix Law Enforcement Association President Ken Crane said he supports the move to hire assistants but doubts it will do much to fill the gap.

“I mean, If this whole lobby was on fire ... would one bucket of water help?" Crane asked as he stood in the City Hall entrance. "We appreciate the help. Good on ya. But the only way to fix this is to double down on police hiring."

Crane said the city previously had more assistants helping the police, but those numbers dwindled over the years.

The practice is common. Cities around the country, San Antonio, for example, have increasingly hired civilians to perform more basic police work and relieve budget constraints.

Dan Carroll, a neighborhood leader in north Phoenix and past candidate for City Council, said hiring assistants will help but he thinks it's not enough. He said the city should have more officers today than it did at the peak in 2008.

“Phoenix has a larger population than pre-recession, but fewer officers," Carroll said, adding that he believes residents would support a tax increase if it's needed to grow the force.

Funding tight

Zuercher's proposal, unveiled Tuesday as part of his draft budget, already has support from council members who welcome the prospect of improving response times.

Councilwoman Thelda Williams plans to support the move. She said police assistants could handle basic crimes like garage burglaries, where homeowners typically call the police because they need a paper report for an insurance claim.

“We’re going to get a much bigger bang for the buck and provide a better service," Williams said. “We want officers responding to priority one calls."

MORE: Soaring pension costs still crippling Phoenix budget

Zuercher plans to pay for more police assistants using the city's projected $1.9 million surplus. But long-term funding could be a challenge. The following fiscal year, the city projects it will face a deficit between $43 million and $64 million.

He said while hiring more employees could make the deficit situation worse next year, the city must still make headway in responding to concerns about police staffing.

"There are some things we just simply need to continue doing," he said.

Residents can weigh in on Zuercher's draft budget at 17 public hearings in April. A schedule of hearing times and locations is online at https://www.phoenix.gov/budget.

Zuercher is expected to present his final budget plan in May, and council members will vote on it in the following weeks.