J.J. Stitt, the newly selected Chief of Police for Geary, has issued a 22page report on the turmoil inside the department that led to the resignation of the former chief and four officers.
Not only were the officers dealing with a chronic staffing shortage, leading to long hours and extended shifts, but there was a perceived lack of response from the city leadership to requests for assistance in dealing with the situation.
Furthermore, the department felt political interference from city leadership seeking to influence law enforcement decisions.
Other findings included problematic handling of a donated firearm, allegations of racism and mishandling of a sexual assault case. The assault hasn’t been properly investigated in the year and a half since it occurred and has been turned over to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations.
The report is more than a laundry list of wrongs in the department, though.
Each issue is backed up by instances of the same problems felt in multiple rural Oklahoma departments, followed with step by step suggested solutions. It addresses staffing, dealing with small budgets, and how to rebuild trust in a community that feels in some instances it has been failed by its law enforcement.
It delves deeper into recruiting and retaining officers, both short term and long term, how to create a recruitment network and where to locate added financial resources to make the employment package offered to new hires attractive.
Stitt also goes through rebuilding the trust the community needs to have in its police force, added training for handling sexual assault and other cases, and instituting a wellness program for the officers.
Whether the city is able to act on the suggestions remains to be seen, although the actions of city council members at the November meeting seem to indicate it is willing to try.
It hired Stitt as chief and is recruiting other officers, offering a minimum starting salary of $18.50 per hour, even though that required the budget to be adjusted some $5,000 as a starting point.