The impact of the shortage of staffers has resulted in longer wait times for 911 and emergency lines. The vacancy rate is 34%, with 65 slots left open. Emergency communicationsĪnother area of public safety facing hiring and retention challenges is the county’s Emergency Communications Center, where civilian staff are trained to answer all 911 and police non-emergency service calls.Īccording to the county council staff report, the Emergency Communication Center has 198 authorized positions. Francke said they appear to have been effective in the military, and “We also see results in our own backyard that it has potential.”Īccording to Francke, the $20,000 hiring bonus offered in Anne Arundel County has led to success in filling a recent recruit class. “We need to recruit like we’re a Division 1 college football team, and we need to go after the best and the brightest with whatever we can,” Francke said.Īmong the strategies being considered, signing bonuses, such as those used in D.C., Prince George’s County and Anne Arundel County. Jones told the committee that he estimates that about 40% of his department lives outside the county. “I knew it was a higher cost of living,” Jones said. Jones told the panel that he experienced a bit of sticker shock when he came to Montgomery County from Richmond, Virginia. They just haven’t driven a car before, let alone a big car with a big engine in it,” such as those driven by the department’s patrol division.Ī long-standing issue within the department: the high cost of living in Montgomery County compared to neighboring jurisdictions. Mom and Dad have driven them, they take public transportation or they’ve Uber-ed. “It seems odd to say that we have people who fail driving, but the reality is these young folks, some of them have never driven before. That too, Francke suggested, is a generational issue. We are not lowering the standards to become a Montgomery County police officer.”Īnother thing the department has found is that potential candidates can wash out in skills tests, such as driving. He said the threshold has been changed to what it was before, but said, “Let me be clear on this, we are not lowering our standards. But Francke said the department found that those test scores were a barrier to many applicants, particularly minority applicants. When the department was flush with applicants, the threshold on the county’s test was boosted to 70% to limit the number of applicants. They don’t see that in having to work holidays,” Francke said. They look for a work-life balance, and they don’t see that in shift work all the time. “We have found that our young workers have changed a bit. Obstacles to hiringįrancke said aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody and the debates over policing that followed, there are a number of obstacles to recruitment. While Jones was adamant that staffing does not fall below levels for adequate coverage on patrol shifts, there have been times that detectives have been instructed to bring their uniforms to work “in order to supplement the patrol officers, should there be that need.” That happens in cases where there are events that demand a large police presence, Jones said, such demonstrations or the shooting at Magruder High School in January 2022. Now he said, “Our most recent classes, we had anywhere from 300 to 400 people apply for a session, and we have many openings.” According to the report, recent recruit classes have had about 15 recruits each. “Back in those days, there were recruit classes of 80,” he said.Īssistant police Chief Darren Francke told the panel, “Back when I came on 26 years ago, there were anywhere from 2,500 to 4,000 people applying for a session.” Jones said in the mid-1990s, the police department had large numbers of applicants. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.Ĭompounding the staffing problem, the number of people applying to become police officers has fallen 38% since 2017.
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