GRAND RAPIDS, Mich - City Commissioners heard from the Grand Rapids Police Department about the community and police relations. The police department has been scrutinized for handcuffing minors while investigating police calls.
The GRPD task force came out with nearly 40 recommendations to improve the department. The panel has concerns about staffing. There are 280 officers for a city with a daytime population of about a quarter of a million.
"In 2010 we were 400 plus, so community policing is both an organizational structure and a philosophical mindset. To take it to the next step, we need additional officers, we want to be in the parks, we want to be in the schools, we want to be able to walk the business district but that take personnel," Police Chief David Rahinsky said.
"When we are going from call to call to call we're not able to give the community what it is they want which is a relationship."
Another priority of the department is to expand recruitment with a specific focus on hiring and retaining minorities. Rahinsky said GRPD's recent recruit classes have been among the most diverse in the department's history.
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