Larry Collins

Fort Worth Police Hit Historic High With Officer Surplus

The Fort Worth Police Department is growing at a pace that prompted city council members to approve 29 temporary positions to make sure there is enough room for the most recent graduating class of recruits.

Friday, 45 men and women were sworn in as members of the Fort Worth Police Department. It’s a history-making graduation, not for the size of the class, but because of what it does to the size of the department.

“We're overstaffed for the first time ever,” Chief Joel Fitzgerald said.

Before Tuesday’s council vote, there would not have been enough positions for all the new officers.

“City Council has put the pencil to the paper to try to figure out what we can do to help,” Councilman Cary Moon said.

When the officers officially hit the streets, attention will shift to what’s next for the department.

“Because we are so well-staffed, [recruitment] will slow down a little bit next year,” Sgt. Buck Wheeler said.

This would mean fewer recruits and academies in the immediate future.

“There is nothing set in stone for 2018. I think we anticipated there will be more in 2019,” Wheeler said.

Officials said the surplus will help prepare for major upcoming turnover.

“The forecast is to lose 100 officers to retirement over a short period of time,” Moon said.

“We want to make sure, as we get more staff, that we can decrease the amount of work load that officers have so that we can have more disposable time to go out and participate in preventive policing,” Fitzgerald said.

The new officers will spend their first days of services meeting the communities they will serve.

"Their first block of training will actually be spent with the NPO (Neighborhood Police Officers) so that's the first exposure to understanding the connections we have," Wheeler said.

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