LITTLE ROCK — The application period for new Little Rock police officers closed Sunday after more than 1,100 people applied for the jobs, a department spokesman said.
The agency plans to fill 60 positions with revenue from a sales-tax increase, which took effect Jan. 1, but the city might not see all the new hires until next year, officials said.
“We can’t possibly handle all 60 in one recruit class, therefore we are seeking 30 now and 30 for future recruit classes,” Sgt. Cassandra Davis, who oversees recruitment, wrote in an e-mail.
The department began recruiting for new officers in September, immediately after voters approved the 1 percent sales-tax increase. The increase means the city will have an estimated $5.6 million by 2015 to retain 27 positions at the Police Department that were previously funded by grants and to hire more than 50 new officers.
The increase will allow the department to employ 569 officers, up from about 500 at the time of the vote.
The new recruit training class, the first of which is set for this spring, will take 20 weeks.
That means the first new officers will be available sometime late this year.
The online listing for the jobs outlined a starting salary of $38,000, with an anticipated salary of $48,125 after two years.
Davis said the department plans to start the second 30-person recruit class in the fall.
But the department is also actively looking for more certified police officers from other law enforcement departments.
Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said in September that the department would advertise outside Pulaski County because he felt the department’s pay scale and the revenue from the sales-tax increase would attract candidates from other areas and states.
Davis said the last certified officer training class, which wrapped up in mid-December, drew candidates from the Arkansas State Police, Hot Spring County, Washington County and the Pulaski County sheriff’s office, and from as far away as Louisiana and Ohio.
She said the department is open to hiring as many certified officers as possible, because they require only a six-week training course and can hit the streets sooner.
“It doesn’t matter, we’re trying to fill those positions,” Davis said.
After reviewing the applications submitted for the new recruit class, Davis said, the department may try to put together another certified officer training class, which usually consists of 10-12 candidates.
She said she wasn’t sure how quickly the next certified officer class could be arranged.
Davis said in addition to those classes, the department may need two or three training classes for new recruits to fill its 60 positions. She said putting together a class of 30 applicants doesn’t necessarily translate to 30 new officers.
“It’s not likely that we’ll get everyone we need in that first class,” Davis said.
“Not everybody who goes through the training course will complete the training course.”
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 01/30/2012