The city council budget committee asked Tulsa's public safety officials about their staffing levels Thursday, and each department is under authorized strength.
Fire Chief Ray Driskell said he's losing about two firefighters a month.
"But if we have anything that changes within the pension system, because of the people that come on in the early '80s and late '80s, we could have any number of people leave," Driskell said. "I mean, we could have 50, 60, 70 people leave because they've met their 20-year pension timeline."
Driskell said the fire department is at minimum staffing 95 percent of the time. Academies this July and next will have about 30 firefighters each.
Police Chief Chick Jordan told councilors he's 37 officers below authorized strength of 783. He said there are 20 in academy now and 30 planned for September, but that won't make up the difference.
"Our attrition right now is about 3.6 a month, what we're losing," Jordan said. "So we will not be at authorized strength when those 30 hit the field 10 months later."
Jordan added while he has 746 officers now, only 722 are available because some are injured or on military leave.
The 911 center lost 17 people last year and five already this year. Meanwhile, call volumes continue to grow.
Director Terry O'Malley said that's a big problem for Tulsans who need police.
"Only 64 percent of your calls for police response are going to be answered within 10 seconds," O'Malley said. "Twenty-five percent of the people who are calling for a police response are going to be waiting a minute or longer."
O'Malley told city councilors she needs a dedicated recruiter who can help filter out applicants who won't last more than a few months.
