Police staffing woes complicate reform effort in Baltimore

By DAVID McFADDEN
Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore’s police force is struggling to meet staffing targets to fully comply with a reform intervention and get out from under federal oversight. The agency has some 400 vacancies among its sworn staff and its recruitment efforts just can’t keep pace with those leaving their jobs. Deploying a new model of community policing on Baltimore’s gritty streets and gaining citizens’ trust _ the core of the federal intervention _ has barely begun. Baltimore has plenty of company with its police staffing woes as departments across the country are confronting headwinds in retaining and recruiting officers amid a crisis of confidence in policing.