Madison Kwiecinski, Editor-in-Chief
mvk5945@psu.edu

In June of this year a resolution passed in Erie County that capped the amount of police officers the city could hire. This prevented the city police bureau from exceeding 175 total members.
Earlier this month on September 7, the City Council voted 5-1 to rescind that resolution, allowing the city to once again hire more police officers. Jasmine Flores was the only no vote cast against rescinding the resolution. Councilman Chuck Nelson, who sponsored the original resolution that capped the police force, was not in attendance when the vote was cast.
City Councilman Ed Brzezinski was the sponsor for rescinding the resolution, with his reasoning being that President Biden has recently been pushing for higher investments in law enforcement, and he does not want Erie to miss out on these financial incentives. Brzezinski has explained that limiting Erie’s police force to 175 people could cost them federal funding in the long run. Biden has recently been pushing his “Safer American Plan Act” which would increase funding for law enforcement.
“We’ve got it done,” said Brzezinski. “It was a situation to clarify. If President Biden is going to be sending money to states and cities, I want to make darn sure that we are in the right place for it.”
Erie Mayor Joe Schember’s Administration will now be permitted to hire more officers before the end of this year. The decision to move forward with this process allows the Mayor to access $14.5 million in American Rescue Plan funding that will be put toward police and public safety.
The Erie police department has already hired 9 new officers, with the goal of 21 being hired before the end of this year. “We’re excited,” said Police Chief Dan Spizarny. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I think the city is going to see results.”
However, there were varying opinions on whether the hiring of new police officers would cause more financial harm than good. Councilman Nelson, who was not in attendance at the council meeting but opposed rescinding the resolution stated, “If these police remain, we’re looking at an $8.7 million deficit on the 2026 budget, without any reserves to cover it,” said Nelson. “This is going to be on the taxpayers. This is going to be debt for my children.”