CLEVELAND (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team has found a tiny class of Cleveland police recruits just got smaller as nearly a third quit.

The city has been struggling with a severe shortage of officers on your streets. Now this.
Records show, in one week, four new Cleveland police recruits resigned.

An internal document shows four members of Academy Class 154 hired last week. Within days, they had resigned.

The I-Team uncovered this the day before City Hall is scheduled to meet with the police union on ways to recruit and keep more police officers.

For a very long time, Councilman Mike Polensek has been demanding the city do more to recruit officers.

He reacted to our findings about four cadets suddenly resigning.

“I really don’t know what to make out of it,” Ploensek said. “But, we have to get to the bottom. Why are people applying to be members of the Cleveland Division of Police, and why are they withdrawing themselves?”

He added, “And, we’re all asking the same question, ‘What’s going on?’”

In an email, a city hall spokesman wrote: “Not all of them articulated why they left, but of those who did some – said they obtained another job offer [which is outside of law enforcement]; indicated an hour commute was no longer feasible for them; or simply changed their mind and did not provide any reason beyond that.”

But, this leaves the city with a total of less than 20 new recruits in training.

Wednesday, city leaders are scheduled to hold a summit with police union leaders on new proposals surrounding hiring officers and encouraging them to stay with Cleveland police.