By Rick Rouan and Beth Burger, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – Columbus is expected to add about 30 additional police officers to two recruit classes already scheduled for 2018.
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Multiple city sources confirmed to The Dispatch that Mayor Andrew J. Ginther will announce Wednesday morning that the officers are part of additional funding in the 2018 budget for a neighborhood safety strategy he rolled out late last year.
The city recorded 143 homicides in 2017, the most ever (see graph above).
Altogether, that would give the city about 100 new police officers this year. The budget Ginther rolled out in the fall already accounted for 70 new recruits. The Columbus City Council will vote on the budget in February.
Ginther’s proposed budget was $890.6 million, but the city added another $3.4 million in carryover funds at the end of the year.
Ginther declined to comment Tuesday afternoon through a spokeswoman. A press conference is scheduled at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Hilltop YMCA, 2879 Valleyview Drive.
City Council President Shannon G. Hardin, also expected at the press conference, did not return a call seeking comment.
The city hires officers every year, but those have only kept up with attrition. In 2008, Columbus had 1,903 officers. In the fall, the city estimated it would have 1,918 at the end of the year.
About 275 officers are eligible to retire from the division, said Jason Pappas, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9.