Within 30 days, the Ames Police Department will have almost 20 percent fewer police officers, causing some temporary problems in staffing, but Ames Police Chief Dennis Ballantine said the shortage will not seriously affect the city.

The Police Department’s 54 officer staff will be 10 officers short by the middle of March, Ballantine said. The openings are a result of three officers taking positions in the St. Paul Police Department in St. Paul, Minn., as well as some recent retirements, career changes and injuries among officers.

Ballantine said his main concern with being short-staffed is the effect it might have on some ongoing projects, as well as the number of extra hours officers will have to shoulder.

“We’ve got a burn-out potential,” he said.

Detectives may begin patrolling in uniforms to help fill the void, Ballantine said. “Our main concern is to make sure we have enough officers available,” he said.

Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco said the change will hardly be noticed by the public.

“The people will not really notice any difference, because officers that maybe did something else will be out patrolling the streets,” Tedesco said.

Some relief may be in sight. On Saturday, 80 applicants took the Police Department’s application exam, Ballantine said, and the results are still being processed.

Of the 160 applicants the department has received for its open positions, 150 have some criminal justice education or previous job experience, and 36 are graduates from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), Ballantine said.

In January, the Ames City Council approved a signing bonus of $2,000 for officers who have already completed the ILEA. Ballantine said the hiring process will be quickened by the signing bonus because the department is seeing more applications from trained officers who won’t have to be sent to the academy before they hit the streets.

“[The signing bonus] has had an impact because normal recruitment only produces about a half a dozen graduates,” he said.

Ballantine said if all of the vacancies are filled in this round of applications, the police force should be back to normal by summer. If not, a full force should be assembled by the fall.

Although it causes some headaches, Ballantine said it is a compliment that other departments are interested in his officers. “Other departments want good, educated people,” he said.

Shortages of police officers are not uncommon. About four or five years ago, the Police Department had a similar deficiency when several officers retired, Ballantine said.

Tedesco also said shortages are to be expected from time to time.

“It’s just a matter of some turnover,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any concerns.”