Just days after a 10 year-old girl was injured in a drive by shooting, Youngstown city leaders swore in five new police officers.

"It's an opportunity to get more patrolmen out in the community, therefore we can have a safer neighborhood and safer community," said Mayor Tito Brown.

But, the department is still not up to the staffing level city leaders would like to see. Chief Carl Davis has a goal of hiring 20 more officers this year alone.

"My ultimate goal was to hire 25 police officers this year, I understand that that might not be a realistic number but we are going to do everything we can to try and get there," said Davis.

It's no secret that local police departments have been struggling to attract candidates to the force, mainly for low wages.

"Our issue is getting men and women who want to be law enforcement," said Brown.

YPD recently increased pay for officers from a little over $34,299  to $43,680. The city has also approved what the mayor calls an "aggressive" advertising campaign and will use $23,710 in American Rescue Plan money to get the word out

Just last month, Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Green told 21 News his officers make about $47,800 , that's just over $4,000 more than Youngstown officers and said that while it's stopped some from leaving the sheriff's office for higher paying jobs, it has not attracted new candidates.

Meanwhile, the investigation into three recent shootings on the city's west side continues. Chief Davis says they have "promising leads" but could no elaborate.

The officers sworn-in, include:

  • Jordan Bradley
  • Megan Fiedler
  • Ryan Patterson
  • Adelimarie Quinones-Cruz
  • Tyler Srbinovich