By Police1 Staff
CHICAGO — With police struggling to overcome the violent crime in Chicago, the department is looking for citizens to join the force and “Be The Change” in their communities.
A group of “ambassador” officers took to the streets Monday to recruit new cops, an effort the department has coined the “Be The Change” program, Fox 32 reported.
“I was one of those guys that grew up in a communities just like this one, and one of the things that happened was I realized that not a lot of people in my community that were the police, looked like me,” Officer Tim Crawford said.
The officers said the only requirements are recruits have to be 21 and have 60 credit hours. Officers receive full health care coverage, tuition benefits and a retirement plan.
“You’d be surprised to find out that most officers go their whole career without ever having to shoot their weapon, other than to qualify,” Crawford said. “It’s not as bad as people think. This is a great career. ”
The program is a part of a two-year hiring process that will add almost 1,000 new officers to CPD.