Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb intends to eliminate more unfilled police jobs in order to pay for big raises he hopes will eventually grow Cleveland’s shrinking Division of Police.
The reductions are included in Bibb’s proposed 2024 budget. It was delivered this morning to Cleveland City Council, where members are already sharing concerns about continued declines in the size of the force, Cleveland.com reports.
This is the second year in a row that Bibb is seeking to employ a budgeting strategy that reduces the money set aside for police jobs the city doesn’t expect to be able to fill, so it can make way for better pay for existing officers, and, ideally, boost recruitment long-term.
Because the actual size of the Cleveland police department will not be changing, Police Chief Wayne Drummond said the budget plan would have no impact on police response or operations.
