Columbus Police Department facing staffing concerns

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI )- Since the beginning of 2019, more officers have walked out of the Columbus Police Department than have walked in.

The department has hired 13 new people, but 19 have left — including three of the new hires.

Now people are asking why.

“I definitely think that is an issue that we have to take a look at, you know, as a council, you know, we have to make sure that our streets are safe. We have to make sure that we have all the right people in place, you know, to do so,” said ward 5 councilman Stephen Jones.

Police Chief Fred Shelton said while he can’t say why some are leaving, he can say that it’s not a morale problem.

“There are two sides of the story. And then there’s always the truth. And the truth is we have a good department we have a strong department will be an effective, efficient and productive,” said Shelton.

Councilman Stephen Jones disagreed.

“If you have this many officers down, you know, it has to be a morale problem also, you know, because they’re leaving for a reason, you know,” said Jones.

The department is designed to work with a full staff of 70. Even with the lower numbers, Shelton says the job goes on.

“One of the things that they will not change regardless of the people is the mission. The mission is to protect the citizens of Columbus. And we do that, and we do it every day, regardless of how many people we have. That’s the job. That’s the mission, and we keep doing the mission,” said Shelton.

But getting people to stay is important, and Jones says that may mean examining existing policy and procedures.