Some St. Petersburg cops and neighborhood leaders say no, the force is stretched too thin. But the chief says that the ratio of badges to residents isn't what counts.
By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN
Published June 18, 2006
ST. PETERSBURG - More than 15,000 people have moved to this city since 1990. Increasingly, this growing population calls the police department for help.
Yet the department has added just 16 police officers over that time.
The city had 497 sworn officers on the street in 1990. The number increased to 514 by 2001. Five years later, as of this March, the number is actually down: 513 officers on staff. St. Petersburg now has the leanest police department among cities in the Tampa Bay area.
Why hasn't the city hired more cops?
Police Chief Chuck Harmon says he doesn't need them. He said he bases his staffing decisions on many factors other than population growth and calls for service.
"All of our performance indicators are going in the right direction," Harmon said. "Those are the things I'm concerned about from a data standpoint as chief. Are we doing the right things?"
Harmon pointed to measurements like drug-related arrests nearly doubled since 2002 and response time to major calls for service (down 1.5 minutes to 5.6 minutes since 2002).
"I think we're providing a very good service," Harmon said.
Not everyone agrees with Harmon's assessment. Neighborhood leaders have complained about cuts in the department's community policing program. And some rank-and-file police officers say they're being stretched too thin. They handled 121,177 calls for service in 2005, about 4,000 more than in 2002.
The growing number of calls forces officers to dash from one call to the next, some say, keeping them from spending enough time on more time-intensive activities like community policing that can prevent crimes.
"We don't have an adequate number of officers," said Mark Deasaro, a St. Petersburg police officer and president of the Police Benevolent Association of Pinellas County. "If you have several situations going on at once, one event of substance will drain the entire work force for that day."
Deasaro cited a recent heavy summer storm. Some people who needed help had to wait for an hour or more for police officers, he said.
To make matters worse, the department continues to struggle to fill vacancies. The department has the budget to employ 540 officers, meaning there are 27 vacancies.
Harmon said the department is aggressively recruiting officers to get up to full staff and notes that it's not unusual for larger police departments to have a similar number of vacancies.
Still, other departments field more police officers per citizen than St. Petersburg, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement figures. Using 2004 statistics, the department says St. Petersburg has one of the lowest ratios of officers to citizens in the state.
That year, the department was authorized to field about 540 officers in a city of 252,000, the FDLE said. The number of 2.16 officers to every 1,000 residents was lower than Tampa, Clearwater, even Miami.
Tampa has 971 officers for a city of 323,000, or 3.01 per 1,000. Miami has 989 officers for a city of 380,000, or 2.61 per 1,000. The state average for police departments in cities with 1,000 or more people is 3.05 per 1,000.
The city's violent crime rate hasn't changed much in the last five years. But other cities like Tampa and Miami have seen significant reductions.
Harmon said he doesn't like to compare St. Petersburg with other cities. He said the city had grown much younger and more dynamic during his tenure, increasing the likelihood of violent crimes.
But, Harmon added, the police force had adapted to those challenges, and seen some reduction in violent crime in spite of the demographics.
"Our best comparison is to ourselves," he said.
Scott Swift, vice president of the Bartlett Park Neighborhood Association, says he sees the consequences of the city's leaner staffing. He says police officers don't have time to crack down on issues like loitering kids and littering.
The number of officers "just doesn't match up with the need," Swift said.
"There are so many issues that the police cannot enforce," he said.
For Swift, that means kids in the neighborhood walk down streets strewn with needles and other trash.
But those small problems aren't just nuisances, Swift said. Instead, they breed other, more dangerous problems.
"I believe it's a huge contributing factor to this being a comfortable place for drug dealers," Swift said. "I think there's a decision made up top that you don't go after the smaller crimes like littering. But if you do that, you can prevent the bigger stuff."
Clearwater, Tampa and Miami have more officers per capita than St. Petersburg, which has one of the lowest ratios in the state. 4B
infobox: By the numbersSt. PetersburgNumber of officers AUTHORIZED TO FIELD: 540APPROXIMATE Population: 252,000Officers per thousand residents: 2.16TampaNumber of officers: 971APPROXIMATE Population: 323,000Officers per thousand citizens: 3.01ClearwaterNumber of officers: 253APPROXIMATE Population: 110,000Officers per thousand residents: 2.29MiamiNumber of officers: 989APPROXIMATE Population: 380,000Officers per thousand citizens: 2.61Sources: city of St. Petersburg, Florida Department of Law EnforcementIn 1990, sworn officers for the St. Petersburg policenumbered 497, serving the city's 239,000 people. According to estimates, the city grew by 15,000 over the next 15 years.Yet by 2005, the force had gained just 25 officers.
