Law enforcement leaders address Sandhills officer shortage

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- A critical law enforcement staffing shortage in the Sandhills has area leaders joining forces to find help.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein and Cumberland County law enforcement leaders outlined strategies to address their challenges in recruiting and retaining officers.

Law enforcement agencies such as the Fayetteville Police Department are dealing with increased job vacancies.

Braden said his department had 88 vacancies out of a total of 629 jobs -- a few more than the 84 open spots reported for last year.

"It's going to take us a while," Braden said. "We're not going to, probably see this problem go away this year, it's going to be, probably take us this and the next couple of years just to climb our way out of the hole and the deficit we've been in."

Hope Mills Police Chief Stephen Dollinger said he has 14 openings in a department with only 46 total positions.

"We're paying a lot of overtime to cover shifts, working bare-minimum manpower, which isn't always safe for our officers," Dollinger said. "We want to have, you know, full complement of officers out there."

Meanwhile, Cumberland County Sheriff Ennis Wright said he had almost 200 open spots out of more than 700 positions.

Some recruitment solutions they're working on with the attorney general include expanding a program that pays for college loans for those working in law enforcement across North Carolina's 100 counties.

They are also offering hiring bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.

The leaders also discussed retention strategies, such as pushing legislation that would allow retired officers to return to work without hurting their retirement pay.

They're also working to give financial bonuses from the state to officers who get additional workforce training, and they're trying to line up more tailored mental health support for police officers.

"Part of what we as policymakers need to do is make sure that folks in law enforcement have the support that they need to have the right health and well-being that they need to succeed for many years," Stein said. "We don't want folks to burn out."

According to Stein's office, more than 500 fewer recruits took the basic law enforcement training exam last year than in 2019.