WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Officials acknowledged they don’t know the amount of officers the city needs during a budget workshop meeting on Tuesday.
But the city proposed adding 25 additional officers and two sergeants, according to slides presented at the meeting.
WATCH: This is first time city’s intention to increase staff has been publicly reported
It’s the first time the city has announced a staffing increase since a city-paid consultant report found chronic staffing shortages, low morale and outdated equipment made it harder to prevent crime.
The increase will bring the total number of officers to 335 from 308, which is still lower than the amount of officers the police department said it needed in the past. The number also includes command staff, who are not necessarily policing the streets.
The budget isn’t final and is in its initial stage, but the slides WPTV obtained mark the first time the city’s intention to increase staff has been publicly reported.
WPTV obtained records from the agency’s “suggestion box” showing multiple officer concerns about being forced to work overtime, requests to create specialized units and concerns about the amount of officers on a shift over the past four years. Multiple assistant chiefs responded to these complaints by acknowledging the need for more staff.
“The department is short on manpower,” Assistant Chief Anthony Spatara wrote in February 2025. “We are actively recruiting hiring and requesting additional positions.”
WATCH: Incentives offered to bolster police recruitment at WPB police department
Spatara explained the department had a goal to hire 360 officers in May 2024, but the agency was about 90 officers short, at 271 sworn officers.
The department told WPTV in June that it had 20 vacancies, meaning it had about 288 sworn officers based off the current number of funded positions. This budget proposal adds money for recruitment and training.
CONSULTANT REPORT FINDS CHRONIC UNDERSTAFFING
A consultant report detailed internal dysfunction within the West Palm Beach Police Department, focusing on describing chronic staffing shortages, low morale and outdated equipment making it harder to prevent crime.
The 89-page assessment, created by a consultant called the Jorge Colina Group, heavily focuses on staffing shortages, which it blames for other issues within the department, like morale.
It said a number of units in the criminal investigations divisions are below authorized staffing, including: Homicide, SVU, Violent Crimes, Auto Theft, Property Crimes and ITAC.
“Criminal cases, primarily property crimes and some violent crime cases, are not assigned for investigations due to personnel shortages and solvability assessment by the Units' sergeants,” the report read.
The report also said a specialized investigator dedicated to domestic violence investigations does not exist within the agency. This includes dispatch operators and special investigations division, with no assigned personnel to either of the Street Crime Teams. The report also said there is no evening or weekend IT support for police officers and dispatch operations.
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“The department faces significant challenges that impact efficiency, morale, and officer safety,” read the report's conclusion. “Improving communication, modernizing equipment, and investing in the professional development of its workforce are crucial steps towards meaningful reform.”
After the report was published, the Fraternal Order of Police, the union for West Palm Beach police officers, blamed the city for not properly funding the police department.
'WE DON'T HAVE THAT MAGIC NUMBER'
City Administrator Faye Johnson said on Tuesday the police department staffing shortage was partially due to department cuts around the Great Recession. Then, the city cut 33 officers between 2008 to 2013, and only added about 20 positions between 2014 to 2019.
“The board and the administration at that time had cut it to the bone and then had to do the unfortunate or maybe perhaps the unthinkable about cutting into public safety,” Johnson said.
Johnson said she doesn’t know the number of officers the police department needs as of today, but told commissioners she planned to have continued discussions with Mayor Keith James and the city’s police department.
“I think we can conclude that we probably still have quite a bit of ways to go to reach that ultimate level, but we don’t have that magic number,” Johnson said.
WPTV asked Mayor James for his opinions about the number of officers the city needed earlier this month, but he gave an unrelated answer to the question.
Ethan Stein: “How many police officers do you think the city needs?”
Mayor Keith James: “Well, listen as I said before it’s encouraging to be around a group of mayors where we are encountering the issue such as public safety, such as the affordability of housing and we’re constantly looking and it’s great to be here so we can understand what some of the best practices are so we’re working on that every day and it’s nice to be around other mayors who are also working to address those issues.”
A spokesperson for Mayor James declined to make him available for an interview today after the budget workshop.
Johnson said the additional $6.6 million in additional funding is about 85% of the budget the police department requested for the fiscal year.
Chief Tony Arajuo told WPTV’s Ethan Stein today the staffing increase was a promising start, but declined to speak on-camera about the increase, which also adds three 911 operators, an evidence specialist, a police records specialist and a senior accounting clerk.
Arajuo previously told WPTV staffing was “adequate” within the department in April 2025. But emails WPTV obtained from a public records request shows the chief acknowledge staffing challenges with the department.
The proposed budget would also reestablish the city’s Police Athletic League. The charity, which the police department supported with funding and staffing, suddenly closed in September 2023.
The closure left about 20 families without afterschool child care, after parents complained about no water, food or air conditioning.
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