By Jessee Leavenworth
Hartford Courant
HARTFORD, Conn. — When the economy was flush, police in Connecticut and throughout the nation had to scour the land for qualified recruits. Departments marketed themselves aggressively and offered signing bonuses and additional vacation time. Some even lowered entry standards.
The ongoing recession, however, has changed the scene, nudging many more applicants to police station doors. Manchester police are getting as many as 50 applications a month, compared with just two or three each month a year ago, Deputy Police Chief Marc Montminy said. Administrators in West Hartford, Farmington and other departments also said they were seeing more people willing to try a cop’s life - a positive trend, police commanders said.
“It’s always better to get a bigger pool; the more folks you get to look at, the better,” West Hartford Police Chief James Strillacci said.
“We welcome a large pool,” state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said. “Certainly it gives us the opportunity to select the best of the best.”
In 2006, Windsor police spent about $10,000 on a print and radio campaign. Police Chief Kevin Searles said that he does not foresee the same expense now when looking for recruits. The department has not hired since August and is not hiring now, Searles said, but people continue to call and ask about job openings.
“I think there’s more interest out there in law enforcement careers,” he said.
Police in several departments said that more people in their late 20s and 30s were applying. More are college graduates and military veterans.
“Up to a year ago, the quality of applicants was noticeably lower,” Farmington police Lt. Bill Tyler said. “There has been an upturn in the quality and quantity of applicants.”
“The economy has a lot to do with it,” said Thomas Flaherty, executive director of the state Police Officer Standards and Training Council. “There’s more people out there who are looking for secure jobs with some benefits and some sort of career ladder.”
“Folks see the writing on the wall,” Strillacci said. “Their professions are under fire from the economy, their own positions are not assured and they’re looking to make a lateral move.”
The average salary for a police officer in Connecticut is $56,768, according to the state Department of Labor. The department lists “police officer” among jobs in the state with the most annual openings. According to a chart on the department’s website, 254 police officer positions open each year, compared with 2,265 cashier positions, the job with the most annual openings.
In 2006, about 7,400 police officers worked in the state. That number is projected to increase to 7,970 in the next seven years. Although many municipalities are cash-strapped now, the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes about $1 billion to retain and hire police officers.
Competition for those federal dollars, however, is heavy, according the U.S. Department of Justice. The department received 7,272 applications for the COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP), totaling $8.3 billion. The process is now closed and awards will be announced no later than Sept. 30.
Most departments in Connecticut and throughout the country require police officer candidates to have at least a high school diploma or equivalent. Some require an associate’s degree, and some departments post ads only for those who have worked for at least two years as police officers in other municipalities.
Job experience is a significant factor on an application, police officials said. The state labor department categorizes jobs under education and training requirements, including those, for example, that require college degrees or experience in related fields. Police officers are in the category requiring “long-term on-the-job training.”
Louis Mayo, head of the Police Association for College Education, said that all officers should have four-year degrees. College-educated officers are less prone to corruption and improper conduct, among other attributes, Mayo said. In any case, he said, the number of police officer applicants with four-year degrees will increase throughout the nation as long as the economy continues its sour course.
To many applicants, being a police officer offers a secure career with opportunities to rise steadily in rank and pay. But people shouldn’t pursue the job simply for the paycheck and benefits, said East Hampton Police Chief Matthew Reimondo, who also heads the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association. Reimondo and other police commanders noted stringent requirements for police officer candidates, including clean records and good physical condition. Also, Reimondo said, officers must be mentally tough and, most important, able to communicate with the citizens they serve.
A college degree, he said, “is never a negative, but life experience carries a lot of weight. ... We need people who can deal with people.”
Copyright 2009 The Hartford Courant Company