While there is a shortage of police officers in federal jobs, the country is also facing a shortage of local police recruits, leaving law-enforcement officials around the country scrambling to fill the ranks.
In Schenectady, New York, the police department is short 16 officers. This is allegedly causing the public safety commissioner to pull three officers from patrolling Schenectady public schools to put on the streets.
In Fresno, California, top law enforcement officials are reportedly courting graduating cadets, pitching job offers at the ceremony. According to the Sacramento Bee, Mariposa County Sheriff Jim Allen reassured cadets during the local police academy graduation that in his county, “We don’t have as many shootings.”
If you’re a resident of New York City and have gotten away with a lower-than-usual amount of traffic tickets, it might be because the NYPD counts just under 36,000 officers. According to the NYPD Chief of Personnel Rafael Pineiro, this number is 5,000 short of an all-time high of 41,000 officers in October 2000. Recently, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly publicly blamed falling recruitment levels on the low starting salary — $25,100 for the first six months of the year and then a raise to $32,700.
Not all is doom and gloom in the land of the five-0s, however. The police department in Aurora, Illinois, is swearing in 16 new officers at its Thursday evening ceremony, reportedly the largest group of new hires in the department’s history.
But in Baltimore, it’s a mixed bag over their new police hires. They successfully swore in its new class, but some cops are left without uniforms. According to the Associated Press, the Baltimore Police Department doesn’t have any more pants (sizes 36 and 38, to be exact), an unintended consequence of recently hiring 240 new officers. According to a police spokesperson, the department has put in an emergency order for the custom-made navy-blue pants in those popular sizes.