Nebraska grassroots campaign launches ballot initiative to require at least 450 police officers in Lincoln

Advocates for All Nebraskans, a populist civic engagement group, filed a petition with the Lincoln City Clerk’s office Thursday to mandate the city employ at least 450 police officers.

The municipal ballot initiative would be on the November ballot if the organization gathers signatures from registered voters that equals 5% of the turnout from the last general city election. After the group collects the signatures, the initiative will go to Lincoln’s City Council where members will have to vote to either pass the initiative or put it on the ballot, according to Lincoln’s city charter.

This initiative comes after Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird presented her 2026-2028 budget to the City Council on Monday.

As part of her budget, Gaylor Baird said the city plans on retaining seven police officer positions by absorbing the costs after COPS grant funding ended for those positions. Additionally, as part of the budget, there is match funding to add four additional full-time police officer positions.

However, a press release from the organization says the city’s executive branch “is prioritizing discretionary vanity infrastructure over hitting safe, standardized personnel metrics.”

In the proposed mandate, the ordinance would establish a floor of 450 full-time equivalent police officers, a number that must be reached within 24 months. Currently, the city authorizes a total of 371 sworn officers, saidErika Thomas, LPD’s public information officer.

As of June 11, LPD currently employs 357 officers. However, LPD’s second police academy of the year will start in July to add to that number.

LPD has roughly 1.2 police officers for every 1,000 residents, according to LPD’s website. In comparison, the Omaha Police Department has 1.8 officers for every 1,000 residents.

Advocates for All Nebraskans says Lincoln’s staffing level is unsafe, citing a national average of 2 officers per 1,000 residents.

“As Lincoln hovers around 300,000 residents, a 1.5 ratio mathematically requires 450 officers today just to meet baseline public safety demands,” the group said in its press release.

The ordinance is being brought forward by former Nebraska State Patrol Col. Tom Nesbitt and Doug Fitzgerald, a Lincoln author and radio show host.

Eric Underwood, the spokesperson for Advocates for All Nebraskans, said the organization will continue to go to the people until lawmakers represent them.

"Today, we are moving from the statewide arena to a singular, focused, local mission. The City of Lincoln prioritizing Public Safety makes Nebraska even better. The timing of the Mayor’s budget presentation works perfectly in our favor because the hard numbers expose the real priorities of city hall,” Underwood said in the press release.

In a statement from Rick Hoppe, the mayor's chief of staff, he said public safety has been a top priority for the mayor, adding that 55% of Lincoln’s budget is dedicated to public safety. Additionally, the statement says Gaylor Baird has added 23 police officer positions since taking office in 2019.

"The City questions the legality of this petition. What we do know is that increasing the police department to 450 officers would cost approximately $13 million annually, requiring either a 12% property tax increase or significant cuts to the budget for streets, parks, and libraries," Hoppe said in his statement.