Glasgow Police are hiring more officers as community needs increase

GLASGOW, Ky. (WBKO) – Keeping the community safe is Glasgow Police’s number one priority, but recently Chief Constable Guy Howie found that was becoming more difficult as the demand for police increases.

At a Glasgow City Council meeting on October 14 he proposed adding two more officers to the staff.

“It is necessary due to our increased call volume and the resulting decrease in our ability to be proactive in our enforcement efforts and our investigations,” he told the council during the meeting. “As shifts become shorter and more calls come in, attention to detail and attention to investigations suffers. This is not the level of service I expect for our citizens.”

This approved change will increase staffing from 35 to 37 officers. At the meeting, Howie said that of the 35 they have now, some are in training, one is deployed overseas for a year, one is on medical leave and one has been transferred to the drug task force.

According to the chief, this puts a strain on the number of officers they assign to each shift. With the two new officers, they can aim to have five officers and one sergeant on shift.

Howie also said he wouldn’t normally ask for a budget change this time of year. That’s why he needed council approval to include it in the police department’s budget.

“I did it mid-year because of the amount of workload we see and the amount of overtime we have to use to run shifts to give the citizens of Glasgow the protection they need,” he said.

According to Howie, overtime on the last payroll totaled about $12,000, and service calls have increased by nearly 10,000 between 2022 and 2023. He specified that overdoses have increased especially in the past year and that they are “trying to attack” fentanyl. and the methamphetamine problem while tackling their other daily duties.

“We’re seeing a lot more calls for help, especially around drug use, mental health issues, theft, shoplifting and things like that,” Howie said. “Our calls for violent crimes are not increasing as much as those for property crimes.”

The cost for both officers for a full year is $168,000. As they continue to recruit, Howie is also completing a manpower survey to find out if they may need more officers.

“We’re going to do the research based on our calls for service and the number of officers needed to handle those calls for service, the amount of time they spend on a call and how much time we want them to do proactive police work. .”

Glasgow Police are currently in the recruitment process. They hope to go on board in mid-November. Depending on their experience, they start training at the police academy or start working fairly quickly afterwards.