PARMA, Ohio — The Parma Police Department said they are doing everything they can to combat the staffing shortages at their department, which is also a nation-wide problem.

What You Need To Know

  • Parma Police Department staff is at 117 officers, the most they've ever had

  • Seven new officers were sworn in this month

  • One officer was transferred from the Cleveland Police Department

  • A service credit transfer keeps benefits for officers
The department swore in seven new officers this month to bring the force to a total of 117 officers, the most they've ever had. The department said these hires are part of an effort to ensure they're ready to take any call.​

Officer Sean McBride is one officer who recently joined the department through a program called service credit transfer.

"I started my career in Cleveland, and I wasn’t very happy there, and I saw that they were giving a test, and Parma police had a really good image with the public and other officers, so I took there test," he said.

McBride said the service credit transfer allowed him to keep a lot of his benefits, like vacation time, and he even got a pay raise.

"Working here, I definitely feel more valued than I did at my other department," he said.

But McBride said officers at other departments don’t have the same luck and said during his time with the Cleveland Police Department (CPD), he saw firsthand the struggles that can come with the job.

"Instead of my eight-hour shift, I am working 18 hour shifts," he said. "It was exhausting, and with no recruitment right now, I can only see it getting worse."

McBride said he also has to deal with is the negative way the public sometimes looks at police.

"In today’s world, I hope to try and show people that is not who we are," he said. "I am human too. I get what people go through hard times. We are there for those hard times. I don’t want people to think I am this person that some people make me out to be."

McBride is looking forward to serving his new department and the community to the best of his abilities.