RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — An eastern Indiana police department that turned to the power of Twitter and Facebook in its search for new police officers ended up with the largest pool of applicants it has ever attracted.
Richmond Police Department Chief Kris Wolski and Lt. Bryan Ervin's social media postings in the past year netted a record 412 applications from the city about 60 miles east of Indianapolis. Wolski told the Palladium-Item the department got applicants from such places as Alaska, California and Florida, along with local candidates.
"It's a new age," Wolski said.
Aside from Twitter and Facebook, the department also used its blog to field questions and had job seekers submit their applications online.
Ervin said the department's successful social media search for applicants was good news because in the past three months it has lost five officers to retirement who had a combined 148 years of experience.
"We have a lot of qualified people to look through. Obviously, that's our goal," he said.
Wolski said the department hopes to fill all of those five vacant positions by the end of the year, but that it can take as long as a year before the new hires are completely trained and street ready.
Wolski said the idea is to update a list of potential hires so they can be ready to step in when veteran officers retire. The difficult part for Wolski is keeping the list "fresh and current."
He said some candidates accept posts with other police agencies, while others don't pass the physical or psychological tests or have criminal histories.
The challenge for the department is not only the hiring, but also the training process. New hires must ride with a training officer, spend 16 weeks at the police academy and shadow an officer working a patrol shift.
"Obviously, we want the right person. We spend a lot of money on training and equipment and we want to find that person who is interested in a career in law enforcement," Wolski said.
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