FULTON – During the City of Fulton Police Department’s Town Hall on October 5, police chief Michael Curtis shared issues the department is actively facing.
The town hall originally discussed the misconceptions and issues surrounding evictions, but another wrinkle is the lack of police officers on staff. According to Curtis, the department is comprised of 35 total officers, which includes administrative staff, himself and patrolling officers. Due to the deployment of one patrolling officer to the National Guard, Fulton essentially has 11 officers dealing with an “overwhelming” amount of calls, as the department fields roughly 16,000 annually. The problem Fulton is facing is not exclusive to the city but a nation-wide issue.
“This is a problem across the country. I will tell you a big part of it now … The pay has ramped up. It is supply and demand,” Curtis said.
Back in 2021, the City of Oswego raised wages for its police officers, seeing an increase of approximately 30% over five years. That favorable contract places a strain on Fulton’s recruiting and retention of officers, who could stand to make $21,000 more when starting as a police officer in Oswego compared to Fulton.
“When you ask someone to come work for us, they may be from our community, but they’re not going to turn down a $21,000 difference in pay to go to the same police academy, to police the same people – because we share a lot of the same people back and forth from Oswego – and still live in the same area.”
After the new deal, according to Curtis, Oswego’s force is where it should be in terms of employment.
The Fulton police are working on ways to overcome the gap in pay on multiple fronts in order to bring in a sufficient number of officers. On one hand, it is working closely with the city’s common council to raise wages.
“We are in active negotiations with the city, with the council, to address that. We have come up with a good proposal that the union is on board with right now that the majority of the council supports. It’s just a matter of [pushing it forward],” Curtis said. “Our discussions so far have been very positive.”
The second point of attack is focused on recruiting. According to Curtis, the department is talking with candidates on a regular basis before passing the academy’s test. In building these relationships, the hope is that new graduates will go to Fulton’s department. Other recruiting work comes from going to job fairs and even Fort Drum, where soldiers may decide to go into the police force after their time is up at Fort Drum.
While staffing is currently an issue, it may get worse. The department anticipates another six officers to retire in two years, according to Curtis.
“We are in a position where we need to act on it quickly. In two years, we will have another six or so retire, and it takes approximately a year from [the] hire date to the person [being] on their own, contributing to our manpower,” Curtis said. “So you have to think 2-3 years ahead of time.”
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