OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Whether it’s protecting the public from violent crimes—like what happened in New Orleans this week—theft, or traffic safety, the Omaha Police Department deals with it.
In several recent posts regarding porch pirates and other thefts from front yards the Omaha Police Officer’s Association (OPOA) says the police department is “critically understaffed.”
“Being 130 officers short, obviously, that’s going to be felt all across the city,” said President Patrick Dempsey. “That’s less officers on uniformed patrol or crews, that’s less officers in specialty positions, that’s less officers overall to investigate crime.”
Records First Alert 6 got from the city show the police department down by 101 officers.
However, Dempsey said OPOA’s number includes recruits who are on the payroll, but not yet on duty.
Despite the shortage, the OPOA believes the gang unit is fully staffed, and the department can still keep our community safe during public events.
They said the short staffing does hamper property and violent crime investigators, and traffic enforcement.
“When we have fewer detectives, it leaves us the inability to continue to investigate at the high level we do,” Dempsey said.
Despite Mayor Jean Stothert’s expectation to get the police department back to full strength by the end of this year, the OPOA projects there will be less officers than right now.
“I don’t think it’s attainable at this point in time, just given the sheer numbers of retirements and the projections of what’s going to be in our next academy class,” Dempsey said. “The city has done a great job of attempting to get us more applicants, but those applicant numbers are still not where we need them to be in order to adequately fill those vacancies that we have.”
Stothert’s office responded in a statement Friday saying, in part:
“It’s disappointing that the Omaha Police Officers Association is using social media to try to alarm citizens that their safety is jeopardized as we work back up to our authorized, budgeted number of police officers.”
It went on to say:
“We have been very upfront with the public about the national officer recruiting and retention challenges and our strategies to fill vacancies, including the $9.5 million raise I gave officers last year. Our plans are working.”
On Friday, Chief Todd Schmaderer said OPD’s recruiting numbers is keeping up with those who leave, and that one or two good hiring pools will bring Omaha back.
“Right now, we’re keeping pace,” Schmaderer said. “We’re looking to get ahead. The application numbers are going up, so I do anticipate that we will start getting ahead.”
He said his department’s personnel is down between 10 and 12 percent, which he said is on par with other major cities.
What will it take to get the numbers up though?
“I will tell you Omaha police officers are paid fairly,” Schmaderer said. “They’re paid well. But we will look at that aspect as we’re looking to increase our staffing.”
Dempsey agrees, but thinks other factors play into recruiting.
“i think it comes down to consolidating some of the processes and streamlining those so officers can start quicker than they are currently,” he said.
He added they’ll have contract negotiations with the city at the end of this year to address some of what they think will boost recruiting numbers.
Schmaderer said he thinks policing is seen as a less attractive job since the events in 2020. He believes the public will see how important the police are, and job application numbers will go up.
Mayor Stothert’s full statement:
“It’s disappointing that the Omaha Police Officers Association is using social media to try to alarm citizens that their safety is jeopardized as we work back up to our authorized, budgeted number of police officers.
Even with fewer officers, overall crime in Omaha fell 17% in 2024 from 2023, violent crime is down 22%. We have maintained low response times and achieved a 100% clearance rate again on homicide investigations.
Public safety is my primary responsibility, and this data shows Omaha is a safe city.
A recruit class graduates from the training academy next week, and another will begin this Spring. We maintain high standards to hire the best candidates, and will not accept any application, just to fill vacant positions.
We have been very upfront with the public about the national officer recruiting and retention challenges and our strategies to fill vacancies, including the $9.5 million raise I gave officers last year. Our plans are working.”