Nampa voters have rejected a proposed permanent $5 million levy that would have helped the police department recruit and retain officers, leaving the department to restructure staffing in response.The levy needed 60% approval to pass but received only 45%.The vote came despite a city survey conducted last year in which 44% of Nampa residents identified police as the top priority for the city and said the department should receive additional funding more than any other city service. Watch | Nampa's police chief responds after voters reject $5 million in additional funding: Nampa police levy fails: Chief explains staffing shiftsPolice Chief Joe Huff said he struggled to reconcile the survey results with the election outcome."I don't know exactly how you can rectify that. I think that our community, they support the police department, obviously, but we're still the same police department. We're gonna continue to be a good police department for our citizens, responding to calls," Huff said.The department has already lost 14 officers to higher-paying jobs elsewhere in the Treasure Valley. Huff said the patrol division has not kept pace with the city's growth, and without additional funding to recruit new officers, the department is now pulling employees from other divisions into patrol."We'll continue to work our game plan out this week. We're notifying folks today of some of the changes. We've had great attitudes. Our employees get it they're 100% behind this community. We have got to keep our patrol division up, so I'm going through different divisions within our department and pulling people out back into the patrol division," Huff said.The restructuring will reduce staffing in narcotics, detectives, school resource officers, and the motorcycle traffic unit.Despite the changes, Huff said residents will still receive a police response, though the department will adjust how it handles some cases."The men and women of Nampa Police Department are here to support you. You're still gonna get a police response. We're gonna hold ourselves to the high standard that we always have you're still gonna get A-plus service from Nampa Police Department all the way around," Huff said. ...read more read less