More cops, sooner

As Toledo endures a plague of gun violence, a proposal to move up the start of the next police academy class from December to July could help put more police officers on city streets sooner.

The proposal, offered by City Councilman D. Michael Collins, is logistically possible. At a cost of about $600,000, it would not be a budget-buster and could even reduce city overtime expenses. Mr. Collins says he seeks a similar plan for city firefighters.

Mr. Collins, a former president of the police officers' union, warns: "We're going to lose our city if we don't have a safe city. Nobody will want to invest in a city that isn't safe."

Toledo has 1.67 police officers per 1,000 city residents -- the lowest ratio among Ohio's largest cities and less than half of Cincinnati's rate. Toledo Police Chief Derrick Diggs says his department's current staffing of 545 sworn officers is among the lowest nationally among cities of Toledo's size. The chief says his department could use 250 more officers.

Yet staffing is getting worse. Fewer officers are expected to be on the job this summer than last summer. Despite the expected addition of 40 officers from the academy class scheduled to graduate this spring, the department had a record 59 officer retirements last year.

The department expects to pick up 30 new officers from the class that is scheduled to start late this year. But it also anticipates 50 retirements this year and another 20 by the summer of 2013.

Barring an infusion of cash, the police force will continue to shrink. By moving up the starting date of the academy's class, the department could at least rebuild some of its lost strength sooner.

Chief Diggs wants to install 75 permanent surveillance cameras in the city's most crime-ridden areas to help compensate for his shrinking force. But some officers will have to be taken off the street to operate the cameras.

Even before the recent spate of violent crime, police protection in Toledo was thin. Bad economy or not, skimping on essential public safety could become a tragically false economy.

Council members should accelerate the next police academy class, and then look at other steps that could help rebuild the city's police protection.