Naples Police say they see improvement following staff shortages

Although recruitment and retention problems have plagued police forces around the country, the Naples Police Department appears to be on the upswing.

After serving for 15 years as a lieutenant in the Naples Police Department, Bryan McGinn discussed the personnel situation with Fox 4.

“Within the last 2 years, we’ve filled our 15 to 16 vacancy spots that we had,” McGinn states.

The agency is down to one open position after struggling to keep officers for a few years, according to a recent article by Mahmoud Bennett of Fox4.

These advancements align with shifts in the leadership team.

Since taking over as manager of Naples City last year, Jay Boodheshwar has made staff retention a top priority. As the new Police Chief, he appointed Ciro Domingues.

Although hiring has been a priority, the department claims that the work culture has received a lot of attention as well.

“We’ve kind of changed our approach from hiring to focusing on growth within the agency, building our command, and developing our police officers from the ground up,” McGinn said.

Following the police union’s negotiation of a roughly 12% pay raise, Naples leaders voted to adopt a new contract for the city’s police department last year.

“We’ve had a great opportunity to work with our partnership with city manager staff as well as the mayor and city council, and that’s where those negotiations happen between us and the Fraternal Order of Police,” says McGinn.

Despite some citizens’ worries, McGinn reports that Naples Police has received an overwhelmingly positive community reaction.

One person said, “I have a great deal of respect for law enforcement. It’s a challenging job.

This article originally appeared on Fox4.