Denver’s police force would hit “full authorized strength” under Mayor Mike Johnston’s plan to spend $8 million to attract nearly 200 recruits next year, according to the city’s public safety department.  

Johnston’s 2024 proposed budget earmarks nearly $25 million for public safety, including $8.2 million to hire 167 new recruits.

“Mayor Johnston’s budget will allow the department to continue working to get back to full staffing levels, which will have a positive impact on response times and being able to further build upon innovative crime prevention strategies,” a Denver Police Department spokesperson told The Denver Gazette via email.

“Full staff” is not an exact number, the police department said. But the police say the “full authorized strength” stands at 1,596 officers.

As of Sept. 1, the department employs 1,498 sworn officers, including 54 recruits in the training academy, according to the police department.

Assuming the administration successfully recruits 167 new officers, that puts the police force at the “full authorized strength,” factoring in attrition. 

The police department in recent years has struggled to recruit officers, a challenge shared by other cities’ law enforcement agencies. The difficulty in recruiting officers is occurring at a time when mass shootings so far this year have surpassed the number in 2019 and 2018, although it is so far lower compared to the last three years.

Denver witnessed the country’s 500th mass shooting, as defined by Gun Violence Archive, on Saturday night, when five victims were shot and wounded in Lower Downtown.

Denver police said they are looking for a woman who brandished a gun after she was denied entry to a bar because she showed them an ID that wasn’t hers. The police have made no arrest so far.   

On X, the platform previously known as Twitter, Councilmember Chris Hinds said he is pleading to Denver’s public safety director and police chief to increase police presence in Lower Downtown, so “we can ensure a healthy, safe environment and a strong, vibrant downtown.” 

Also on Twitter, some pushed back at Hinds’ suggestion to hire more police officers.

“The overwhelming response I got on social media was that we need to treat causes, not symptoms – as in hire more police or have a greater police response,” Hinds said during Monday’s Denver City Council meeting.

Tyson Worrell, president of the Denver Police Protective Association, echoed the call for more police officers in an interview with The Denver Gazette. 

“The community feedback I’m receiving is that they want more police and the police are doing a great job when they are called.”

In a statement, the police department said it has hunkered down to curb attrition, with the aim of keeping more officers with each new graduating class from its training academy.     

The department’s goal is to initiate three separate academy classes in 2024 and slightly over its typical maximum capacity of 52 recruit officers to reach the goal of recruiting 167 new officers, the agency said. 

Denver Police Department’s academy training lasts 28 weeks, including 12 weeks of field training, according to the agency.

The department said it has a class of nearly 50 recruits in the police academy right now, with two more classes planned to launch before the end of the year. 

“Any increased effort to retain and recruit officers is welcomed so as to avoid any pitfalls that other major cities have found themselves in,” Worrell said. “We look forward to working with the mayor to ensure the officers have what they need to address the crime in our communities.”

In addition to adding more police officers, Johnston’s administration plans to spend $16.2 million on other safety measures: 

• $7.2 million? to fund co-responder programs and grow the Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program. The money would help expand the number of team members and vans, increase operating hours, and build out leadership support for clinical and paramedic teams.

• $1.8 million? to add a second a Wellness Winnie team?, which would help double the city’s capacity to provide mobile mental and behavioral care services.

• $3 million? for staffing and facility improvements to make available 90 more beds in community corrections as treatment alternatives to incarceration.?

• $4.2 million? for the Behavioral Health Solutions Center,? a 24/7 treatment resource for those who are having a behavioral health crisis.

“The 2024 budget will ensure Denver has the officers it needs, while also expanding mental health services to ensure the right responder for the right incident at the right time,” the mayor’s office said.