Police recruits in heavy demand

Cities offering perks, scouring other areas

Kevin Johnson

Police departments, desperate to beef up their ranks, are using unprecedented recruiting tactics that include luring officer candidates from other cities and offering drastically increased pay, housing allowances and other perks.

The aggressive recruiting efforts have become particularly common in cities such as Phoenix and Lexington, Ky., where local governments are emerging from budget slumps and hiring more officers to keep up with the public safety needs of rapidly growing areas.

To expand its pool of candidates for 500 jobs over the next two years, Phoenix's 2,969-officer department is recruiting on the Los Angeles Police Department's turf in Southern California. The $300,000 campaign includes TV and newspaper ads that tout Phoenix's lower cost of living.

Los Angeles' 9,000-member department, which is seeking 720 officers, has responded by hiring its own recruiting strategist. "Southern California is a bog market," Los Angeles police Cmdr. Kenneth Garner says. "It's open season out here."

Honolulu's police department, which has struggled to find applicants on the Hawaiian Islands, is following a strategy similar to Phoenix's. The 1,800-officer department, trying to fill 200 openings, recently sent recruiters to San Diego and Portland, Ore., and for commitments from a dozen prospects.

Lexington raised salaries from $26,000 to $34,000 to help boost its 540-member force by 200 officers over four years. The city offers up to $7,400 for down payments on houses.

Other police agencies are dangling perks such as bonuses for recruits who speak foreign languages, says Elaine Deck, who tracks recruiting for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Such perks have become more prevalent as departments have faced stiff competition for recruits in an economy that has created many higher-paying alternatives to police work.

"There are so many (departments) looking for officers," Deck says. The market is so competitive, she says, that departments for the first time are "recruiting whole families. . . . Everything is on the table: bilingual bonuses, housing allowances, you name it."

Some police departments have sent recruiters to other cities to sign up experienced officers from other agencies. Paul Schultz, police chief in Lafayette, Colo., says his 40-officer unit has been raided by larger agencies. "We've had officers go out on assignments where they've been recruited on the job."

Johnson, Kevin. "Police recruits in heavy demand: Cities offering perks, scouring other areas." USA Today. McLean, Va.: Nov 11, 2005. pg. A.1