With the numbers of personnel continuing to dwindle at the Guam Police Department due to officers seeking better pay, more opportunities and a supportive work environment, steps are being taken by the administration to retain those that are heading in and those who are currently in the department.  

"I'll tell you this, the Guam Police Department and the officers there have the most authority out of the entire law enforcement agencies here," said Lieutenant Governor Josh Tenorio. "They are able to go and enforce laws in every other single area of the government and we need to be able to to make sure that our core premier law enforcement agency is staffed and responsive to the community."

When asked if there was a directive in place prohibiting other Government of Guam law enforcement agencies," Tenorio said from picking up officers from the Guam Police Department who are looking for a better work environment that they feel supports them.  Adamant there is no directive, he said, "I'll just say this, when other agencies have said there are officers, our priority is Guam Police Department. Our priority is filling vacancies within the Guam Police Department. We have to have core police on Guam."

"What I'm understanding are applying for voluntary demotions to go to other law enforcement agencies, and this is the time where we need all hands on deck," he added.

But what does that say about what is going on at Guam's premier law enforcement agency that is prompting officers to jump ship? With hopes of keeping recruits who go through training and eventually graduate from any of the law enforcement academies, Governor Lou Leon Guerrero during her State of the Island Address, shared her proposition to future law enforcement officers.

She said, "We will give you good wages, regular increments, an early retirement age, and ample time off with your families…But going forward, we will expect something more of new recruits—-if we train you for a career in law enforcement, we will ask you to sign on to a minimum three-year commitment to serve the agency you trained with… Should you leave government service early, you will be asked to repay the pro-rated share of your training cost."

Tenorio adds that once GPD is strengthened, the other law enforcement agencies can be brought up. "We need people on the streets and our population expects that GovGuam is going to be able to utilize," he stated.

"They want to see officers on the street...my view is working collaboratively across the different agencies we can provide that presence but we need to have officers with the power of arrest that able to intervene on behalf of the population for the general crime and especially violent crimes and if they are in other agencies, with limited authority and not able to do that, we are just shooting ourselves in the foot."