PHILADELPHIA, May 14 (UPI) -- Philadelphia's police department faces a manpower shortage as a new surge of gun violence and murders plague its streets.
From a peak of 7,000 police officers three years ago, Philadelphia is down to 6,400, the smallest the force has been since the mid-1990s, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The depletion is far more severe because 610 officers are categorized as injured or on restricted desk duty, police sources said.
Shootings are on the rise and murders reached 380 in 2005, the worst year for killings in Philadelphia since 1997. Police response times have slowed as well, say some within the department.
The department took steps to get more police on the street following the shooting death Monday night of Officer Gary Skerski by a robbery suspect.
Measures include moving officers from desk jobs to the street, putting some plainclothes officers back in uniform to bolster the department's visible presence, and getting available officers into police vehicles that had been sitting idle.
Officers welcome overtime-pay opportunities, but see it as a "Band-Aid" solution and worry about fatigue, which can diminish performance and endanger the officers.
