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CHAMPION -- Trustees and township officials are concerned about the shortage of police officers and firefighters as they plan to seek grants and do more advertising to attract candidates.
Trustees earlier this week approved seeking a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant to pay for another officer or two and also agreed to look at ways to recruit more staff for the fire department, which at times has had only one person stationed during a shift.
Trustees did approve hiring John Massett as a full-time firefighter at $12.60 per hour.
"It is important we get more staffing so we can have more than one person on a shift," Trustee Chairman Doug Emerine said. "We need one person to be driving the ambulance and another to be saving someone's life. Doing nothing is not an answer."
He said the problem of finding employees has been challenging not just for Champion, but communities nationwide. He said filling part-time positions is just as hard as filling full-time positions.
"It is not just a Champion problem and not just a Trumbull County problem, but a national problem. Everywhere, there is staffing issues," Emerine said.
Fire Chief Tom Dempsey said the department has been advertising and using word of mouth seeking full-time and part-time firefighters. He said many employees leave to work at other departments with higher pay or the part-time firefighters have a full-time job elsewhere.
Dempsey said Champion is the third-busiest township fire department in Trumbull County, behind Howland and Liberty. Trustees said they are going to see if some of the part-time firefighters could receive additional training to be paramedics.
Emerine said the township budget won't allow for any pay increases. there are more calls now than years ago.
"This is sobering to me. We have some serious issues in this township. We have an understaffed police department and an understaffed fire department. I thought we only had one person working Saturday when I drove by the station and saw one car," Latimer said.
Resident Cindee Mines said she and others are concerned about the low number of safety forces but understand what the township is facing in terms of funding.
Trustees said there likely will be a need for a public meeting to explain the need for more money for the police and fire departments, which would be through levies.
"The community needs to come to the realization that we need more money for our safety services. The residents need to understand we need a levy. The people in the community need to step up and support police and fire,'' said Trustee Rex Fee, noting that health care costs are expensive.
Fee said seeking two COPS grants from the U.S. Department of Justice will help get staff. He said some police officers are nearing retirement in a year or two.
The COPS grant would be for three years, providing 75 percent of the costs for an officer the first year, 50 percent the second year and 25 percent the third year if the township secures it.