 Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, right, observes an LAPD police officer preparing for patrol. (AP Photo) |
By Kevin Modesti
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — Applications for Los Angeles police officer jobs surged last month as LAPD recruiters began advertising crime-fighting as one of the few recession-proof careers.
The spike in interest, from 401 people taking the applicants’ written test in December 2007 to 870 a year later, followed months of sharp but less eye-popping increases, recruiters said.
Recruiters’ message to job seekers: Although being a police officer might not be completely safe, it is relatively secure.
“During these times of economic uncertainty,” read a full-page advertisement that appeared in December in the Daily News and on job-hunting Web sites, “the (LAPD) is always looking for a few good women and men to protect and to serve our communities. Never have to face a layoff again! Start your new career today!”
The downturn in the economy has offered an upside for the LAPD as it tries to meet Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s goal of achieving a 10,000-officer force by the fall. The department, which now has nearly 9,800 officers, has been hiring about 60 a month, more than making up for losses to retirement and attrition, Cmdr. Jim Cansler said.
Cansler, who heads the LAPD’s personnel group, said only one in every 10 or 11 applicants typically ends up in uniform.
“With the demands on the department, the calls for service, as we try to make Los Angeles the safest city it can be, we need officers,” Cansler said. “The only way to get there is to hire officers and not lay anybody off.”
The LAPD has been trying to boost its officer ranks to bring it in line with staffing standards at other large metropolitan police departments. The LAPD has fewer officers per capita than many other major cities, and patrols a much larger geographic area.
The recruiting effort does not apply to the LAPD’s nonsworn, civilian staffing, which has 500 open positions.
Cansler said the “economic uncertainty” ad - which made its first newspaper appearance shortly after Thanksgiving - can help LAPD reach beyond the military veterans and police officers’ relatives who make up the typical applicants’ pool.
“That ad is aimed at two (kinds of) people,” Cansler said. “The young person who is aware of the downsizing of companies, letting them know that if you work for LAPD, you’ll never have to worry about that. (And) the person who is in a job where they are contemplating layoffs.
“For somebody who has never considered being a police officer before, now is the time to think about it.”
Cansler said that beyond the economy’s impact on the job market, he can’t think of a reason for the rise in applications for so-called “Officer I” positions, which promise starting salaries of $56,522 to $75,878 depending on education and experience.
Before December’s 117 percent year-to-year increase in test-taking applicants, the LAPD had been exceeding its recruiting goals for months, said Janeshia Robinson, a senior recruiting analyst for the Los Angeles Police and Fire departments. Applications were up by about one-third in September, October and November compared with the same months in 2007, Robinson said.
Robinson said she’s one of four people who dreamed up the ad reminding job-seekers that even as other industries are slowing down, crime and crime-fighting remain vigorous.
“Our team works hard to see we put out a message that’s relevant and to-the-point,” Robinson said. “We just tried to think of a way to speak to the current employment pool.
“Usually, we say we’re looking for somebody who wants to make a difference, to appeal to pride in community. (But) seeing an ad like that (pitching job security) might prompt somebody to give us a second look.
“There are probably a lot of people out there who would be good at a career in public safety, and the economy might be the catalyst for them to try.”
It generally takes three to four months for a successful applicant to enter the Los Angeles Police Academy - at which point he or she begins to draw a salary - and at least nine months to join the force, Robinson said.
She said applications to the Los Angeles Fire Department also have increased, but this is thought to stem more from changes in application requirements.
Copyright 2009 Los Angeles Times