Police Finding It Hard To Fill Jobs

This Washington Post article notes that local police departments around the country are finding it more difficult to bring in new recruits. Some are even resorting to easing the job requirements:

In the District, officials said they have noticed increased competition for applicants but are not facing a shortage. But Prince George's County began a $1 million advertising campaign last summer touting police work as exciting and challenging in the hope of boosting its chronically understaffed ranks. The force is 60 officers short of its authorized complement of 1,420 officers.

Elsewhere, departments have dropped their zero-tolerance policy on drug use and past gang association, eased restrictions on applicants with bad credit ratings, and tweaked physical requirements to make room for more female candidates or smaller male candidates, police officials said. Departments also offer crash courses in reading and remedial English for the written parts of the entrance exam, and provide strength and agility coaches for the physical part -- all of which have raised concerns about how qualified some of the new personnel will be.

"We no longer say if you've smoked marijuana five times, you can't be in the LAPD," said Cmdr. Kenneth Garner, who runs recruitment for the Los Angeles Police Department. "If we did that, I'd be sitting in this office by myself. But we really take a hard look at honesty."

In the past, some recruitment drives have resulted in questionable hiring. In 1989 and 1990, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, seeking to quell a crime wave, mistakenly hired numerous gang members and people with substantial criminal histories and drug and credit problems. Some were later implicated in questionable police shootings.

Making it easier to become a cop doesn't solve the problem. The problem is compensation. In a good economy, people are going to go into other lines of work, where they can be properly compensated for their skills. Recruitment bonuses are one way to get qualified applicants to come into one police force, but that often means swiping candidates from other law enforcement agencies.

And that is complicated by the fact that some police departments have actually lowered the starting salaries. In their most recent contract, the NYPD lowered the starting salary for new recruits while increasing the pay for those who have been in the force.

Rookie cops will earn a paltry $25,100 a year under a new contract approved by a state arbitration panel - the lowest starting salary for NYPD officers in at least 20 years.
The drastic pay cut is designed to help fund a 10.25% raise over two years for officers already on the payroll. But critics fear it will harm the NYPD's ability to recruit new cops.

"How can the city justify having young police officers strap on a gun belt and a bulletproof vest for $25,000 a year?" a nine-year NYPD veteran asked yesterday. "This is absolutely ridiculous."

The previous starting pay for NYPD rookies was about $36,000 plus an annual uniform allowance, holiday pay and health insurance.

Under the new pact, recruits will earn $25,100 a year while they are in the Police Academy - more than $7,000 less than rookies in Suffolk County and the MTA, Port Authority and state police departments.

The salaries become more generous once you're on the force for several years, but the starting salary barely begins to cover the costs of actually living in New York City. And with starting salaries higher at police forces in surrounding communities, becoming a New York City cop is a tough sell.