The Jamestown city council approved a resolution to hire five new police officers during Monday’s work session. Screenshot courtesy of the city of Jamestown’s website

The hiring of five new police officers and one court security officer is in the works in the city to help with the current police officer shortage.

The City Council approved two resolutions at Monday’s work session regarding suspending the hiring freeze to allow for these positions to be filled. Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, and chair of the Public Safety Committee said the committee talked with Police Chief Timothy Jackson during their meeting before the work session about the need for these officers. The hires were approved by the Finance and Public Safety committees, as well as the hiring of a court security officer.

“He would like to get these officers hired and begin their training by the end of February,” Russell said. “If that doesn’t happen then he would run the risk of losing those potential candidates to other agencies and it would make things much more difficult for him.”

Russell said there was a concern that if these five officers were hired right now, they are still in the police academy and the city would have to begin paying them, while also allowing for the potential for the new officers to be injured during training, which would then become a 207-c issue, the name which refers to state law that allows any police officer with injuries or illnesses acquired in the line of duty to have their salaries paid. This is something the city has done in the past when hiring officers out of the academy.

“I’ll say this from a personal standpoint, the numbers that these officers are operating at right now in my personal and professional opinion are not safe,” Russell said. “So, these five officers are needed ASAP.”

The department started 2024 with 65 officers, but that number is down to 58 right now. The 2025 city budget includes funding for 62 officers. Seven officer interviews were scheduled for December.

The struggle to fill vacancies in the police department has forced Tim Jackson, city police chief and public safety director, to use the city’s nuisance officer for regular calls – though Jackson has said the move is temporary until additional officers are hired.

Struggles to fill police department vacancies have been an ongoing problem for the past few years across the country, with Jamestown and Chautauqua County no exception.

One issue, according to Sheriff Jim Quattrone has been civil service rules that don’t allow for continual recruitment of police officer candidates. Quattrone told The Post-Journal in 2023 fewer people are taking civil service tests, resulting in fewer individuals pursuing careers in law enforcement. As a result, Quattrone said the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office is seeking policy changes that would make it easier for the county to recruit additional police officers.

“We are advocating for a change in civil service law to allow us have a continuous recruitment,” he said. “Like the state police, they do have a different system in place where they’re able to test more often and they’re testing from out of state. Countywide, we’re not able to do that, and we’re hitting roadblocks and trying to get civil service to make those changes for us.”

Council members in December broached issues of the time it takes to get results back from the civil service exam. It’s been taking a year, and council member Russell Bonfiglio, R-At Large, asked if there was something that the council could do to help with that. Council President Tony Dolce, R-Ward 2, noted that it has always taken a few months, but that it might have gone quicker in years past because there were more people to choose from.