More people are moving to the City of Lakeland which increases the need for more police officers and firefighters. Both departments are struggling with an industry-wide problem — recruitment and retention.
Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor, during a presentation at the city’s strategic planning retreat, said he estimates the city will need to hire about 35 additional officers over the next six years to help ensure the public’s safety.
“That’s really preliminary, we are still in the process of crunching those numbers,” Taylor said.
It’s the second time in two years the City Commission has heard this warning. Taylor’s words echo the exact request of his predecessor, former Chief Ruben Garcia, made in February 2022.
Commissioner Mike Musick asked what the chief’s projected staffing was based on. The numbers are based on the department’s number of calls for service and Lakeland’s rapid population growth within city limits, entered into different state and national formulas.
Troubles recruiting, and retaining officers
The Lakeland Police Department currently has 262 sworn officers out of 272 allotted, but in the next five or six years, they’re going to need about 35 additional officers.
“It’s based on the traffic, the population, and the calls for service,” said Chief of Police Sammy Taylor.
According to city data, the population in 2020 was more than 113,000 and today’s population is 126,000. That’s an increase of more than 12,000 in four years.
“I would much rather hire experienced police officers, that would be my goal,” said Taylor. “But that’s the Polk County Sheriff’s goal and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s goal.”
An extremely competitive pool creates hiring challenges, so they’re having to come up with innovative strategies to attract talent.
“We’ve recruited officers from New York. We’ve hired some officers, about 25, from NYPD, that’s worked out pretty good,” added Taylor.
The police department hired 25 officers last year and lost 25 officers. The chief says it’s due to a combination of officers retiring and rookies who didn’t work out for one reason or another.
So far this year, they’ve hired 15 officers and lost four officers.
“Not getting enough qualified applicants is a huge concern for us,” said Fire Chief Douglas Riley during the city’s strategic planning retreat on May 14.
Lakeland Fire Department Chief Doug Riley said the police department isn’t the city’s only agency facing what he called “unprecedented” issues with recruitment and retention.
Riley said the fire department has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of applicants applying for open positions, with a much higher turnover rate than it has had in the past.
“We are not getting enough qualified candidates to fill our vacancies,” Riley said.
They currently have 188 firefighters and eleven vacancies.
Last year’s turnover was unprecedented. 27 firefighters left LFD,16 left for other departments and five retired.
“Losing applicants after we spent time and energy and effort after those 1 to 3 years is even a bigger problem for us. It’s painful,” said Riley. “It affects morale when we put so much into these young people and then we lost them.”
Both departments are working on improving competitive pay, benefits, and time off to attract and keep employees.
“Everything’s at stake if you don’t have a safe community,” said Taylor.
The starting salary at the Lakeland Police Department is $60,000 with no experience. They’re also interested in hiring individuals with military experience.
The starting salary at the Lakeland Fire Department for a Firefighter/EMT is $51,200 – $74,153, and for a Firefighter/Paramedic, it’s $59,745 – $86,528.