* Warning: This is an unofficial, introductory copy of the bill.
The official copy considered by the City Council is the first reader copy.
Introductory*
City of Baltimore
Council Bill R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Scott
A Resolution Entitled
A Council Resolution concerning
title
Request for State Action - Baltimore Police Department Civilian Staffing
For the purpose of calling on the Maryland General Assembly to enact, and the Governor to sign, legislation that mandates a sworn officer to civilian employee staffing ratio for the Baltimore Police Department.
body
Recitals
Staffing levels within the Baltimore Police Department have been an important topic of discussion in recent years. Much of the conversation has been related to an existing contract that requires a schedule that the Department stated it did not have enough sworn officers to fill, resulting in a significant increase in mandatory overtime and drafting of sworn officers for longer shifts. However, a staffing study required by the consent decree found that the Department had the resources necessary to increase patrol staffing, but chose not to do so. Moreover, in 2017, members of the Baltimore City Council pressed the Baltimore Police Department leadership on the number of sworn officers doing administrative work that could be carried out by civilian employees, thus allowing the sworn officers to return to the streets. The Department assured the Council that it would undergo a process to identify positions that could be changed from sworn officers to civilian employees and informed the Council that at least several hundred positions existed. When asked at a public hearing in August of 2018 about the implementation of changing these positions, the Department informed the Council that no action was taken. Furthermore, data from the staffing study shows that the Baltimore Police Department has a civilian employee staffing rate of 13.6%, while the police departments of comparable cities such as Oakland, New Orleans, and Newark have civilian employee staffing rates of 28.3%, 16.5% and 19.5%, respectively. Amending Section 16-8 of the Baltimore City Code of Public Laws to require the Baltimore Police Department, by year 2022 and thereafter, to have a sworn officer to civilian employee staffing ratio of 80% to 20% would force the Department to join other cities in more efficiently using their sworn resources. Moreover, it would greatly improve the Department’s ability to better respond to needs of Baltimoreans and assist the Department in its effort to increase patrol officer proactive patrol time.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of Baltimore, That the Council calls on the Maryland General Assembly to enact, and the Governor to sign, legislation that mandates a sworn officer to civilian employee staffing ratio for the Baltimore Police Department.
And be it further resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Acting Baltimore City Police Commissioner, the Honorable Chairs and Members of the Baltimore City Delegation to the 2019 Maryland General Assembly, the President of the Maryland Senate, the Maryland House Speaker, the Governor of Maryland, the Mayor of Baltimore City, and the Mayor’s Legislative Liaison to the City Council.