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Critical officer shortage in Chester prompts new partnership with Delaware County

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Published  July 23, 2024 7:36pm EDT
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FOX 29 Philadelphia

Chester City officer shortage prompts new Delco partnership

Chester police are partnering with Delaware County to address the critical shortage of patrol officers. FOX 29’s Jennifer Lee explains the new program.

CHESTER, Pa. - In Delaware County, a new program is addressing the critical officer shortage in the City of Chester.

The Summer 2024 Safe Streets Program kicked off on July 15 to free up Chester police officers from non-patrol duties.

Now, qualified members of the Delaware County Park Police and Delaware County Emergency Services can volunteer to fill turnkey and operations positions, which involve administrative work and guarding prisoners in Chester.

The county employees who volunteer will earn overtime compensation through grant funding from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

"The main thing is deploying more Chester officers on the street, and that’s our goal and that’s what we’re hitting right now," said Commissioner Steven Gretsky of Chester Police. "I think partnerships are key, especially for law-enforcement, having the backing from the District Attorney’s Office it’s key for us."

Commissioner Gretsky said the department is facing an officer shortage of 35 percent. Currently, there are 65 officers on the force. To be fully staffed, Gretsky said there would need to be between 90 to more than 100 officers in the department.

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District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said over the last four and a half years, stakeholders have made efforts to reduce gun violence and the number of gun violence homicides is down by 68 percent.

"So by getting more officers on the street in the city, it’s both good for the people in the neighborhood and also for the police officers themselves, because they have more back up to protect them," said Stollsteimer.

In addition to police recruitment and retention as a long-term solution, DA Stollsteimer is also advocating for a central booking facility in Delaware County.

"We want to have one location where all the prisoners arrested in Delaware County can be brought, processed, arraigned and allow those police officers who arrest them get immediately back to work," said Stollsteimer.