JACKSON, Mich. (WLNS) — Recruitment is slowing at police departments across the state and country.
Rather than flyers and advertisements to promote hiring efforts, the Jackson Police Department is taking a different route.
A $10,000 sign-on bonus.
The department said the applicant pool looks different than it did two decades ago, which is why officials are starting to pull out their checkbooks.
“One of our number one priorities is to recruit good, qualified officer candidates,” Jackson Patrol Lieutenant Jason Ganzhorn said.
Ganzhorn added that it’s all to help combat a drop in staff.
“Over the last probably four to five years, we’ve seen a drastic decline in applications that are coming through, and this is not specific to the city of Jackson– it’s both Michigan and nationwide,” he continued. “There’s just been an officer shortage for quite a few years, and I don’t see it getting better any time soon.”
After more than 20 years with the police force, he said it never used to be like this.
“Back when I first started, it would not be uncommon to get over 100 applications for a job opening,” Ganzhorn reflected. “Now, there are times that we sometimes have no applications at all for two to three open spots.”
With summer coming around the bend, the department is expecting more calls.
“Normally, our calls for service certainly go up during the summer as the weather gets nicer, more people are coming out of their houses and that just leads to more problems that we’re getting dispatched to,” he said.
He just hopes there’s enough officers to respond.
“We strive to provide excellent service to the community and the more officers that we have, obviously the better, quicker services that we can offer all the residents and stakeholders in the city,” Ganzhorn said.
New officers won’t get the bonus right away, as they’ll have to go through their 4-month training process first.
But once training is completed, that’s new recruits will get the check.
Those who are interested can fill out an application here.
