Over the last five years, the Memphis Police Department has seen officers leaving every year, but grant funding from private donors has allowed the department to recruit and retain more officers, and for the first time the police force has seen something it has not experienced since 2011 — growth.

Officials with the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission announced Thursday that MPD now has 2,003 officers, bringing it closer to its goal of having 2,300 officers on the force by 2020.

“This is important progress since having sufficient number of officers is crucial to public safety,” said Bill Gibbons, president of the crime commission and executive director of the Public Safety Institute at the University of Memphis. “For the first time since 2011, we are actually going to have a net increase in MPD officers this year. There is a long way to go, but they are moving in the right direction now.”

From 2012 to 2017, MPD lost 20 percent of its force, according to the crime commission. Some officers retired, but resignations in 2013, 2014 and 2015 were the driving force behind the reduction in officers.

In 2017, seeing MPD’s number steadily decline, the commission gave the city of Memphis $6.1 million in grants from several private entities to help the department keep officers and recruit others.

The grant funding was used over a four-year period to give officers bonuses, with 89 percent of those eligible receiving retention bonuses to remain with the department for at least four years. As of last week, the city said 96 percent of those officers remain.

When the department graduates a new class of recruits from the police academy in December, that 2,003 will increase to 2,041.

“We still have a way to go to reach our goal, but I’m encouraged by our progress,” said Alex Smith, chief human resources officer for Memphis in written statement. “I don’t think you can find another major city in America where private-sector leaders have stepped forward to help make their city safer in such a direct, tangible way.”

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland reached out to the private donors last year through Memphis Tomorrow, an association made up of Memphis’ largest businesses, working to build private-public partnerships to help the police department.

The private donors are some of the city’s major companies and corporations:

• American Residential Services
• AutoZone
• Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz
• Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corp.
• Dobbs Management Service
• FedEx Corp.
• First Horizon National Corp./First Tennessee Bank
• The Hyde Family Foundation
• International Paper Co.
• Memphis Tomorrow
• Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare
• Mid-America Apartments
• Monogram Food Solutions LLC
• Southeastern Asset Management
• SunTrust Bank

This is the first time the crime commission has publicly released the names of the private donors.

“Safe communities create an environment where people want to live, work, raise their families and where businesses and the entire community can thrive,” said Bryan Jordan, chairman, president and CEO of First Horizon/First Tennessee Bank and recent chair of Memphis Tomorrow.

Gibbons said one of the goals of the commission’s "Operation: Safe Community" strategic plan is to increase the city’s police force in an effort to reduce crime.

Crime statistics released earlier this week by the commission show the homicide rate over the first eight months of the year in Memphis dropped by 17.6 percent compared to this time last year. Countywide, the murder rate dropped 14.5 percent. Robberies in Memphis fell 12.4 percent and 11.3 percent in Shelby County overall. Rapes decreased by 18.2 percent in Memphis and 16.6 percent in the county during the same time period.

“After a net loss of over 20 percent of its police force, Memphis is now recruiting more officers than are leaving,” Gibbons said. “Every citizen of Memphis regardless of income, race, age, or neighborhood deserves to live in a safe environment. They have a right to be in their homes, sit on their porches, walk in their neighborhoods, and go to work or school without fear. A full complement of MPD officers is critical to making sure that is the case.”

Mike Williams, president of the Memphis Police Association, said people are still leaving the department through retirement and for other jobs.

“Since Mayor Strickland has gotten in there, he has had more classes, but even with the classes we have not been able to get ahead,” Williams said. “Last year, we were down to 1,950 or 1,955 officers and that’s the lowest we have ever been.”

Williams said he feels news about the increase is a political move with the city elections coming next year.

“Give it a couple of days, we will be under 2,000 again," Williams said. "In fact, we have retirement ceremonies coming up soon."