Little Rock officials unveiled new police recruitment efforts Monday, emphasizing the department's push to enlist a diverse pool of candidates, and they reported progress in filling officer vacancies.
The new efforts include social media advertisements and a police recruitment website, initiatives officials say will help position Little Rock to compete for talent with small and large police agencies in the region.
"If we look at the millennial generation, they are a digital group of individuals. We have to reach them where they are," Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner said at a press conference Monday morning.
The recruitment website features a recruitment video, a salary calculator and information on benefits and incentives. Large police departments across the country use similar recruitment websites, including New Orleans, Portland, Ore. and San Antonio. Little Rock's recruitment website came be found at www.buildabetterblue.org.
A city spokesman said the recruitment campaign includes advertisements on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, along with billboards in five different locations.
Buckner on Monday said there were 24 police vacancies at state's largest municipal police department, which is authorized for 593 sworn positions. The number unmanned positions is at 41, though 17 recruits in the training academy are on track to be sworn in in August, according to Little Rock police Lt. Rusty Rothwell.
Once recruits graduate, they spend about three months riding with a field training officer.
The vacancies have been persistent, but the 41 vacancies is down compared with past totals. Department data show there were 77 sworn officer vacancies in September, and the agency reported about 58 vacancies in summer of 2016.
In the past, officials have pointed to retirements, other attrition and the residual effects of a past hiring lag as causes for the open slots. The open positions have hampered the department's community policing efforts, officials have said.
"Obviously, the issue of becoming a police officer in this country has gone under a lot of stress and strain over the last couple of years and certainly we saw our share of resignations and retirements and vacancies," Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said Monday.
Rothwell said an academy class set to begin in August is expected to have around 30 recruits. The recruits would graduate in February.
"It may only be for a week or two, but that will put us at full capacity, which I don't know that we've been in in years ... maybe even decades," he said.
Buckner pointed to a $5,000 hiring bonus as helping reduce the vacancies. The bonus is given to a recruit upon completion of the training academy, according to the city. City spokesman Lamor Williams said an officer must return the money if they resign within one year of graduating from the academy, and must pay back half of the bonus if they leave between one and two years of graduation.
With the incentive, a starting officer position with Little Rock police is thought to be the highest paid in the state.
New Little Rock employees also receive $5,000 if they purchase a residence within the city, and $2,500 if they rent a place in the city, Williams said.
Without any incentives, a recruit would make $43,742 based on 2019 salary and benefits data, according to the department's new recruiting website.
"We realized that we cannot sit on our heels, that we needed to be very proactive in how we go about recruiting individuals," Buckner said.
Buckner also brought attention to the department's revamped hiring process Monday. Little Rock has tweaked its disqualification standards for police recruits and adjusted its hiring process.
The chief also talked about other recruitment efforts outside of the new advertisement campaign. There's a criminal justice program with the Little Rock School District, he said, along with a "cadet program" in which the people are part of a telephone reporting unit.
Officials, at the press conference Monday, spoke about the importance of recruiting a diverse pool of candidates. Stodola said the department is looking for a variety of candidates to join the department: women of color, young people, midcareer professionals, and both urban and rural applicants.
Buckner echoed the sentiment.
"Little Rock is probably the most diverse city in our state," he said. "And it is important that our Police Department is reflective of that as well."
Metro on 05/22/2018