The Richmond Police Officers Association (RPOA) rallied at City Hall on Tuesday to call attention to what they described as a deepening staffing crisis within the Richmond Police Department and to push back against what they see as political attacks by city councilmembers that are undermining officer morale and public safety.
With staffing levels at historic lows, RPOA leaders said RPD officers are being stretched thin by mandatory overtime and reactive policing. The outcry is occurring in the wake of a Grand Jury report in May that raised concerns about public safety in Richmond caused by an understaffed police department, and amid contract negotiations.
As reported by KTVU, the police union says its department is currently down to 105 officers from the authorized 147. The RPD had even more officers back in 2015, when it was recognized as a national model for community policing. One police officer told City Council that police staffing levels have never been as bad as it is now.
The RPOA says the staffing problems in part stem from a Richmond Progressive Alliance-dominated City Council that opposes law enforcement and has been defunding police since George Floyd’s killing by cops in Minneapolis in 2020.
“Richmond residents deserve a fully staffed police department that can respond quickly, build community trust, and deter crime,” said RPOA President Ben Therriault. “Instead, our officers are being asked to do more with less, while city leaders criticize them publicly. It’s not fair to the officers, and it’s not safe for the community.”
The union named Councilmembers Sue Wilson and Claudia Jimenez for framing recent officer-involved shootings “in ways that cast blame on RPD before investigations are complete.” Following the officer-involved shooting of a knife-wielding man who allegedly threatened his family on Aug. 4, Wilson and Jimenez called for changes to how officer-involved shootings or in-custody deaths are communicated. While the councilmembers say their proposals are about transparency, the police union says they are politically motivated.
The RPOA called the Aug. 4 shooting “justified” and states the officers involved were wrongly sidelined after being cleared by department psychologists and despite remaining in “good standing.”
“This is pure politics, not policy,” Therriault said. “When cleared officers are sidelined for no reason, it sends a chilling message to every cop in this city: even if you do your job by the book, City Hall may still sacrifice you for appearances. That destroys morale and pushes good officers out of Richmond.”
A number of residents and business owners advocated during Tuesday’s council meeting for more police hiring, saying police response times are slow and at times non-existent, leading to more robberies, prostitution and other public safety issues.
Other community members challenged the police union’s framing of the issue, saying the city should invest in alternatives to policing and take steps to ensure more police accountability.
