Metro leaders ask: How much will it cost to replenish law enforcement?

After seeing communities agree to double-digit raises in one of the most competitive job markets for police officers in decades, Twin Cities leaders are asking: How much is public safety going to cost?

Agencies across the metro are offering generous signing bonuses and historic salary increases to attract new officers and retain those they have.

Last summer, Minneapolis police negotiated a historic nearly 22% pay increase making them some of the best paid in Minnesota. In Woodbury, after agreeing to a more modest contract during the pandemic, officers there recently won a 29% pay hike over the next three years.

Those deals are at the top end of a recent stretch of contract wins for public safety officers’ unions across the state.

“It’s very competitive to hire and retain people in sworn positions,” said Jeff Potts, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.

He said many departments also are offering incentives to employees who help. “The theme right now in Minnesota law enforcement is: Everyone is a recruiter,” he said.

Hiring is unlikely to get easier or cheaper. It’s a cyclical problem that is not unique to Minnesota; departments across the country face similar challenges.

Public safety experts say up to 3,000 Minnesota police officers and sheriffs deputies are expected to retire in the next two years. Licensing of new officers remains flat, so the state isn’t minting new police fast enough to keep up with attrition.

Those were some of the reasons why Hennepin County Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde asked county labor staff to study public safety staffing trends. Lunde, the former mayor of Brooklyn Park, said police staffing is top of mind for many local leaders and he wants a 10- to 15-year projection of what it’s going to cost.

Hennepin County leaders also should soon have the results of a study of emergency dispatch staffing they commissioned last year.

“We are going to have to hire more cops,” Lunde said. “I don’t know a city that is fully staffed. If they are, it’s not for long.

“If communities can’t meet their needs, they will come to the sheriff’s office for assistance.”

Staffing challenges have been an issue in metro public safety offices for years and have led to a growing reliance on overtime, particularly in county jails.

The Hennepin County Board recently reviewed a consultant’s examination of overtime in the Sheriff’s Office that found costs have tripled over the past decade — topping $14 million in 2024.

In December, the Ramsey County Board agreed to do a similar study after overtime was nearly double last year’s $2.5 million budget.

“These issues have not gone away. They’re the same issues,” Commissioner Rafael Ortega said in December when the board approved $150,000 to study overtime at the Sheriff’s Office.

State corrections officials have taken notice. Last fall, the Hennepin County jail’s capacity was reduced at least until May, partly because of a staffing shortage.

In response, the County Board approved about $5.4 million in unplanned spending to house inmates in neighboring facilities.

Greg Matthews, who presented Matrix Consulting Group’s findings to Hennepin County officials, said overtime takes a toll on workers. Matrix found 20% of staff that worked overtime on average put in more than 10 extra hours per week.

Matthews said industry research suggests anything more than a 50-hour workweek can harm an employee’s health. More staff is needed to reduce the reliance on overtime.

Sheriff Dawanna Witt and county leaders have made a big push to recruit more detention deputies to reduce overtime at the jail, which accounts for about half of the extra hours.

But Witt has noted that Hennepin County faces stiff competition from neighboring counties where the pay is similar but the jobs can be less demanding and complex.

“There are a lot of things in our profession that we cannot control. We are not wasting money,” Witt said. “We are responding not to wants but to the needs of the community.”

Recruiting and retention challenges, along with a litany of other factors, have already changed policing. That’s expected to accelerate in the coming years.

For instance, metro counties often now send social workers, rather than sworn officers, to calls involving mental health problems. Communities also use unsworn staff to handle minor traffic accidents or direct traffic during events.

Potts said it comes down to local leaders asking, “Are there jobs within the police department that you don’t need a sworn officer to do?”

Increasingly, the answer is yes. Just look to Minneapolis, where since 2021, police have asked residents to call 311 to report nonviolent incidents of theft and property damage.

“You see, in some cases now, crime analysts are being used to do the work an investigator may have done 10 or 15 years ago,” Potts said. “There’s no guarantee that those non-sworn positions are going to be any easier to fill.”

Last year, the Legislature pitched in $4.5 million in funding for the Intensive Comprehensive Peace Officer Education and Training program. The program provides grants for people with two- and four-year degrees with an interest in law enforcement to make the career change.

Commissioner Lunde said those are the types of solutions he wants to learn more about.

“We know what’s coming,” he said of current recruiting challenges. “We need to get more people who want to do this work.”