Hoping we can restore the luster to police work

Facing a $3 million shortfall in McMinnville’s fiscal 2025-26 budget, city staff recommended cutting 11.6 positions, six of them in the police department. On Wednesday night, the budget committee whittled the police manpower reduction back to a still significant three positions, known in municipal budget parlance as FTE for full-time equivalents.

So, how is newly named McMinnville Police Chief Cord Wood going to cope with the cut, assuming it passes formal muster with the city council? Unfortunately, just fine.

The former state police captain has inherited eight unfilled positions, several of which have remained unfilled for years. The department has been retaining them in its budget, and will still be retaining five of them even if the cuts go through.

City Councilor Scott Cunningham called retention of money for wish-list positions, which he opposed, “funding for hope.” But Wood termed beefing up staffing “a number one priority for me,” suggesting he is imbued with the requisite hope.

News of the city’s general fund shortfall sparked angst throughout the community when it broke earlier this month. But news of the city’s police recruitment woes — widely shared by law enforcement agencies across the state and nation, we’ve come to learn — seems to pose an even more urgent challenge.

Here’s the big picture, and it’s not pretty:

About 80% of the nation’s city, county and state police agencies report pressing recruitment and retention issues. As a result, remaining officers are being forced into potentially unmanageable overtime commitments, and overstretched resources are threatening safety in the ranks among both the officer corps and general public.

Officers already having to accept a heavy load of night, weekend and holiday work in their 24-7 profession are increasingly opting to pursue less stressful employment or ease into retirement.

Adding to the challenge, the hiring process for new officers features rigorous background checks and psychological evaluation elements. That serves to detract many applicants, either because they fail to pass one of them or lose patience with a process that typically takes several months to play out.

Finally, the recruit making it past those challenges faces a taxing round of police academy training. That consumes additional months and poses yet one more washout threat.

Police work offers attractive pay and benefits, as evidenced by the $520,000 price tag for retaining three more unfilled positions. That’s in addition to early retirement options and generous overtime opportunities, all without requiring a college degree.

It is both physically and mentally demanding, though, and subject to a high degree of public scrutiny. It’s certainly not for everyone.

Sgt. Evan Burt told the budget committee, “Employees at Mac PD don’t feel appreciated, don’t feel valued.” However, as the budget committee reversal amply demonstrates, police officers are valued over virtually every other city position in this community, as they are in most communities across the country.

We think the internal perception of disrespect is more myth than reality, and can be corrosive in its own right if it is allowed to generate an us-against-them siege mentality. But the challenge of police recruiting and retention is very much real, and it’s by no means endemic to McMinnville.

The New York City Police Department fielded 40,000 officers in 2000, but is down to 34,000 now. And it is losing about 600 more to retirement every year than it is bringing in at the other end.

Most other big city departments, including the Portland Police Bureau, are suffering similarly. Unfortunately, so are city and county agencies in a wide range of rural and suburban settings, with the public increasingly feeling the impact.

However, here and there, some agencies seem to find ways to buck the trend. With a new chief to re-set the table, we join in holding out hope McMinnville can join their ranks.

Here are some strategies that seem to be helping:

n Working to develop a cadre of young reserve officers eager to work their way into paying jobs in law enforcement.

n Stepping up recruitment via social media and other digital options.

n Tightening up the hiring timeline to the maximum extent possible.

n Working to offer more and better advancement opportunities and more diverse career avenues.

n Forging a publicly friendly and engaged culture, making community policing more than just a buzzword.

n Offering non-traditional inducements like college tuition reimbursement.

n Getting out into school and community settings to engage children and teens in their formative years.

n Relaxing bans on visible tattoos, facial hair and minor youthful transgressions.

It seems to us that many departments have come to project a more menacing and militaristic profile in recent years, thanks in part to all the high-tech weaponry and protective gear. That can sour relations between law enforcement and citizenry, thus making the profession less inviting for the 20-somethings it so badly needs to flesh out its ranks.

We certainly don’t mean to point the finger at McMinnville, but no department is immune to risk of fostering negative perceptions. Efforts to present a more open and welcoming face offer not only improved relations in the community, but also to make employment more inviting to new entrants to the work force.

A native Oregonian, Cord brings to the table both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law enforcement, along with experience at the community level in Corvallis and Independence before joining state police ranks. So he’s well aware of the challenges.

Being new at the helm should prove an advantage in renewing enthusiasm for police work in McMinnville. We wish him well in that endeavor, for the safety and security of everyone calling this community home.

Do we support our local police? You bet we do.