YOUNGSTOWN — A survey of Youngstown police officers shows poor morale with concerns about salaries, lack of support by city council and little by the administration, but the accuracy of the results is in question.

The administration authorized the “YPD Officers Climate & Morale Survey” to gauge how officers feel about the department, said Mayor Jamael Tito Brown.

“They do a great job, and we want to retain them,” he said. “We want to figure out how to get better at attracting people. We wanted to get a feel for what the officers are thinking so we did the survey.”

But police Lt. Brian Butler, the department’s staff inspector and head of internal affairs, said that because the online survey used by the city didn’t indicate responses were accepted, some officers submitted numerous questionnaires.

“They took it again and again so it skewed the numbers,” he said. “It’s not completely accurate. It was a good idea, but it didn’t work out. I’m not sure why they encountered errors. We’ve used it a number of times, but this was the first time it was anonymous.”

The survey shows 83 responses to the survey with one person not answering any questions. About 120 officers work in the department.

Those in the department were subsequently asked to take the survey again without anonymity, and only three agreed, Butler said.

While it isn’t known how many officers actually participated in the survey, some questions left little doubt about the opinions of those in the department.

Asked to rate the current morale at the department, no one answered excellent, with two saying good. Thirty-six categorized morale as very poor, 30 as poor and 14 as fair.

Asked to rate pay and benefits, no one listed excellent, one listed good, five listed fair, with 30 saying it is poor and 45 listing it as very poor.

“It’s not a surprise about pay raises being an issue,” Brown said.

Questioned about what is the most important change the department could do to improve working conditions, 54 of the 75 responses were better pay and benefits.

On a question asking if they feel supported by city council, all 81 who responded said no.

Butler said, “The one thing that was most glaring is 100% on the city council question. You can’t be wrong with 100%. A lot of officers’ frustrations lie with the wages and the financial situation. The patrol union is going through contract negotiations.”

Detective Sgt. Seann Carfolo, president of the ranking police officers’ union, said the results showing officers don’t feel supported by city council is obvious.

“There’s a lack of support from city council,” he said. “It definitely plays a role in job satisfaction issues. There’s not a single employee who feels council has their backs. (Council’s) noise doesn’t help, and they don’t even realize it.”

Concerned that 15 city police officers made more than $50,000 in overtime in 2024, city council agreed in June to pay $120,000 for a special performance audit of the police and fire departments.

Council also rejected legislation in June to spend $695,400 to purchase 11 new police vehicles because of the expense of buying cars every year.

But council did agree in December to give 10% bonuses to every police officer.

While a contract with the patrol officers union is stalled — contracts are negotiated with the administration and then it is up to council to approve them — the last contract with the union, signed in November 2021, provided the biggest pay increases in more than 15 years to the most senior officers and a 27.35% increase in starting wages.

Asked about staffing levels on the survey, 54 checked very poor, 16 said it was poor, with one each for fair and good, and no one listed excellent.

Of the 82 responses to a question asking if officers feel the city administration supports them, 69 said no.

Butler and Carfolo both said some officers consider the administration and city council to be the same.

Asked in the survey if they feel supported by their direct supervisor, 68 said yes, with 14 listing no. The same question for the police administration resulted in 49 saying no and 32 saying yes.

Of the 82 responses to a question about leaving the department in the next year, 45 responded yes.

Of those answering yes to that question, 42 responded to a follow-up question about the main reasons. Those answering could give more than one reason, with the top responses being better salary compensation with 28, and high stress or burnout with 23.

Jason Small, a senior assistant city law director, said the police department “constantly strives to create the best environment for our officers and staff. The survey was done with this in mind, and most importantly, to ensure their voices and concerns are heard and addressed.”