After another year of struggling to hire police officers, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb is proposing to cut 148 vacant police positions from the 2024 city budget. 

The move will free up money to pay for an estimated $11.6 million in police raises that the mayor has pitched as a recruitment and retention tool. The administration is trying to take a more pragmatic view of vacancies throughout the budget, the city’s finance director said. 

“We are really trying to be more transparent and realistic in how we budget,” Finance Director Ahmed Abonamah told Signal Cleveland, “and that requires us being a little more honest with ourselves about how many people we can hire.” 

The new budget, released to the public on Thursday, still leaves the city with another 181 empty police jobs in a total budgeted force of 1,350. The city will have to fill those positions while swimming against the years-long stream of police attrition. 

Abonamah said the administration arrived at that new head count after consulting with police leadership. The finance director argued that there’s renewed interest in the Cleveland Division of Police thanks to the raises and a new $5,000 signing bonus for cadets. The city also raised the maximum police hiring age from 40 to 55. 

“Who knows that we’ll hit the 180, but I think we’re in as good a position as we have been in recent memory to actually hit that target,” Abonamah said. 

Despite the cut in head count, the police are budgeted for an overall spending increase. The mayor is proposing to spend $230.9 million on police this year, compared to the $217.9 million budgeted last year.

Bibb is set to defend his $1.6 billion budget before City Council on Feb. 20, when he is sure to face questions about police staffing. In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Council President Blaine Griffin said he found the proposed reductions “concerning.” 

“After needing assistance from outside agencies including the State Highway Patrol, Cuyahoga County Sheriff, and the U.S. Marshals to address the city’s crime surge, reducing the number of officers the city needs requires further discussion,” he said. “During budget hearings, we’ll review the proposal, learn more about the rationale, and determine if the proposed reduction in the number of uniformed police is in the best interest of our residents.”

Ward 17 Council Member Charles Slife, who represents part of the West Park neighborhood, said he understood the logic of closing vacant positions the city can’t reasonably fill in a year. But the city does need more police officers, he said. 

“My worry is that we create, over time, the inability to have a police force that most of us agree is necessary for a city of this size with these challenges,” he said. 

The police head count has been in decline for years. There were 1,550 officers on the force at the end of 2019, according to city budget books. The number of officers fell nearly 25% over the next four years, reaching 1,169 at the end of 2023. 

Slife said City Hall should offer more explanation on why it decides to pass over many police applicants. He said he wants to believe the administration’s argument that raises and signing bonuses will boost recruitment efforts. 

“But it’s sort of like a trust but verify,” he said. “That’s why I keep asking these questions about the hiring process.” 

Last year, the Bibb administration hired the marketing firm Little Jacket for $49,250 to help with police recruitment. The city also plans to hire a consultant to evaluate how many police officers Cleveland needs. That work hasn’t yet begun; the city first wants to get officers used to a new 12-hour shift rotation that accompanied the pay raises, Abonamah said. 

Other Cleveland budget highlights

Bibb’s proposed $778.7 million general fund budget – which funds basic city staff and services – is expected to produce a small surplus of almost $617,000. The city is projected to begin and end the year with about $46 million in extra cash. 

The city is taking a new approach to budgeting for many non-public-safety vacant positions. Rather than budget for vacant jobs in individual departments, City Hall plans to set aside money for a “pool” of 125 vacant jobs. 

The move is meant to give the city flexibility in hiring more staff across the organization, Abonamah said.

Explore the new city budget

Read the latest Cleveland budget proposal here. Below, explore how the city plans to spend general fund dollars. View a larger display here.

The 2024 figures show what Cleveland has budgeted for the year. Numbers for prior years show what the city actually spent.

This story has been updated with additional clarifying information on police spending and the city’s overall spending in prior years.