YORK, Pa. — After one of the deadliest years for York in decades in 2022, new data from the first quarter of 2023 shows improvement.
By the start of April last year, there had been five homicides in York, with four in March 2022 alone.
This year, the city has seen two homicides so far. Gun violence has also dipped in recent years.
City and Police officials say they hope changes to Article 145 of York's codified ordinances will keep the progress going in the right direction.
"It's something we've been working on for about a year and a half," Captain Daniel Lentz with the York City Police Department said.
In March, the York city council voted unanimously to amend article 145 by removing language capping the number of officers in the department at 100.
"It removes a lot of barriers for us in the future," Captain Lentz said. "If the next mayor or whoever comes in, they want to give us 120 cops, they can have the freedom to do that. As long as you know, it's in the budget and counsels on board."
The revisions also add a "Detective Commander" position and allow the department to more closely align with the union contract so there weren't discrepancies.
Lentz says the department currently has 107 officers because of outside funding, a stressor that is erased with this change.
"It eliminates us having to try to go out and find external funding, you know, apply for grants to be able to have officers greater than, you know, 100," Captain Lentz said.
A budging budget has been a hurdle for years, and something considered by city officials in the months-long debate over the bill.
"It's a matter of whether or not we can afford police officers in the future, and it is not a tax burden on the city of York and our citizens," said York City Council President Sandie Walker.
City council President Sandie Walker says police and fire take up a third of York's budget, with YCPD taking up the majority of the third.
She adds that additional officers are funded through 2026, though the conversation will come up again.
"It's going to take a lot of work," Walker said. "Administration is going to have to make sure that they can cover the additional officers after 2026 and be able to present that information to council."
In the meantime, the change gives more flexibility for the department.
"We're really excited about what the future looks like, as far as the staffing of the agency," Captain Lentz said.
Lentz says the department currently has 10 officers in the academy set to graduate in July. However, those officers won't be in boots and on the ground until the end of the year.
With the prospect of additional officers, Lentz says the department hopes to increase staffing on the violence intervention unit and bring on extra detectives.