Muterspaw, who served in public safety for 30 years, five as police chief, made a passionate plea during Tuesday’s City Council meeting to add more officers to combat the rising crime rate and reduce physical and mental stress on the overworked, underpaid staff.
“They are spent,” he said of the officers. “Done.”
When he was hired in 1995, Muterspaw said the police department had 93 officers. But due to budget reductions, the number of officers has dropped to 73 at a time when the department’s coverage area has grown.
Based off 2020 population census, Middletown has one police officer per 698 residents.
Here is a look at other larger Butler County cities and the number of officers per resident: Hamilton has 115 officers or one per 551 residents; Fairfield has 64 officers or one per 666 residents; and Fairfield Twp. has 22 officers or one per 1,029 residents.
Muterspaw said at least 80 uniformed officers should be the goal with possibly three hired in 2024 and four in 2025.
Of course, increased public safety comes with a price. Hiring seven officers would cost an additional $700,000 annually and more over step increase increments, according to a letter Muterspaw wrote to city leaders and council members.
Council member Tal Moon said he would support hiring additional officers now due to the length it takes to perform background checks, hiring and probation.
Some residents have suggested moving a number of the department’s specialty officers — school resource officers, detectives and narcotics — back to patrol. While Muterspaw said patrol officers are the “backbone” of any department, they must have investigation units.
When he talks to residents, their No. 1 complaint is lack of police protection, he said. Some are afraid to go outside or let their children play in the yard due to potential drug issues.
“They don’t feel safe,” he said. “Feeling safe is not a privilege; it’s a right.”
He said it’s time for the city to “bite the bullet” and hire officers because it’s “a right and requirement to feel safe.”
For years, as Muterspaw rose through the ranks and during his two years on council, he has often heard that to increase public safety a city must build its economic development.
“We need to change that mindset,” he said. “This is not a luxury. It’s a requirement for people to feel safe in their city.”
He called hiring additional officers “an investment, not a cost.”
City Manager Paul Lolli, a former fire chief, said he, Police Chief David Birk and FOP union leadership have met recently to discuss possible solutions to staffing and overtime.
It was “a very, very meaningful” meeting, Lolli said.
He plans to propose some ideas during an upcoming council meeting, he said.
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