By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Police departments throughout the country are finding unique ways to recruit more officers.
The Alpharetta Police Department is taking their recruitment on the road to recruit and retain new officers, WXIA reports.
The department will drive 12 hours to New Jersey on Wednesday. The department will be in the state recruiting from July 12 to 14.
“We’re doing something that’s unprecedented. Now, you have seen law enforcement agencies that have nationally recruited and basically what they have done is say ‘Our agency is so great,’” Capt. Jakai Breathwaite told WXIA.
Breathwaite said the department is going way beyond a job fair.
“We are literally loading up our physical agility test and obstacle course, it’s going to be in the back here and we’re taking our entire testing process to the Northeast,” Breathwaite told WXIA.
According to the captain, recruits will go through the entire testing process, including an oral board interview, a medical screening, a psychological exam, a polygraph exam and a comprehensive background check.
Last year, the agency conducted a recruitment campaign in New Jersey, which led to the successful hiring of nine officers.
“If this was corporate America, what would you do? You would fly me out to wherever we’re going, put me up at a hotel. Well, the government, we can’t compete with that. So, we said you know what, let’s do the next best thing,” Breathwaite told WXIA.
In addition to hitting the road for recruiting, the Alpharetta Police Department is offering a $5,000 sign-on bonus. For more, click here.