Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s recent budget proposal includes 180 new officers in 2024, which would be a dramatic increase from the combined total of 144 new officers from the past 3 years.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - There is hope in the city of Cleveland mayor’s office that there may finally be some real growth in the number of police recruits who will enter the academy, eventually graduate, and hit the streets of the city.
However, the optimism for an increase in officers comes from the police union and the city agreeing to a 50% pay increase for first-year officers and what will amount to a 25% increase for current officers. “The budget is fluid and we would increase the number of officers accordingly, should our current expectations be exceeded.”
Euclid Police Chief Scott Meyer told 19 News that the political climate has certainly changed, and so the department must change. There was significant criticism of the department after a high-profile case from 2017 that ended with an officer being convicted, just last year, of a misdemeanor assault charge, but Meyer said Euclid sells recruits on the notion that the community supports the officers.