This article is reprinted with permission from Ahwatukee Foothill News
By Paul Maryniak, AFN Executive Editor
PHOENIX — Phoenix Police have seen a dramatic increase in applications and hires in the last four months, according to a report scheduled to be discussed today, May 7, by the City Council Subcommittee on Public Safety and Justice.
From last December through March, 1,339 applications were submitted for recruit positions – a 124.7% increase over the 596 applications submitted in the same time frame a year ago, according to the report.
In addition, 70 retirees and officers from other law enforcement agencies have applied for Phoenix Police jobs in the same time frame – more than twice the 38 a year ago.
The good news comes after months of struggle by the department to ramp up its recruitment efforts across a broad range of marketing ploys that include aggressive social media campaigns and in-person pitches at events.
It also comes as the department tries to close a gap of about 600 vacancies, with 3,125 budgeted positions and 2,583 men and women filling them.
Noting that last year it “began several process improvements in the processing of applicants for the position of police recruit,” the department said in the report “began several process improvements in the processing of applicants for the position of police recruit.”
That resulted by March in the hiring of 64 recruits and seven transfers from other agencies and/or reinstatements – a 121.9% increase over the 31 recruits and one transfer a year ago.
“The recruiting and hiring efforts thus far in 2025 have resulted in (Academy) Class 1 of 2025 with 30 recruits and Class 2 of 2025 with 41 recruits for a total of 71 recruits,” it said. “This is in comparison to 14 recruits in Class 1 of 2024 and 18 recruits in Class 2 of 2024 for a total of 32 recruits.”
It added that this year’s first two academy classes represent “the largest recruitment group the department has had since 2019.”
Phoenix’s surge in recruit applications stands in sharp contrast to a dismal recruitment picture nationwide painted in a late 2024 report by International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Based on survey responses by 1,158 U.S. agencies, the association said 70% of the respondents reported recruitment was more challenging that the year before the pandemic broke out, though law enforcement agencies in the western United States reported a somewhat less difficult challenge than their counterparts in the Midwest and Northeast.
It also said 75% of responding agencies were implementing new policies to broaden the appeal of a law enforcement career.
Some of the most common were relaxed tattoo and facial hair restrictions, higher salaries and hiring bonuses and a streamlined application and hiring process.
The Phoenix PD report to City Council stated that the department “is committed to hiring the most qualified individuals from diverse backgrounds.”
Its data showed that applicants for recruit positions in the first three months of this year included 40% Hispanics, 31% whites and 12% Blacks with the rest representing Native Americans, Asians and others.
Of the 65 men and women hired in the first quarter, 31 were white, 26 Hispanic, four Black, two Asian, one Native American and one was listed as “other blend.”
Over the entire year in 2024, the department hired 22 women and 145 men.in the first quarter of this year, Phoenix Police hired 63 men and nine women.
In detailing its marketing efforts, the report said its Employment Services Unit “began collaborating more with the Community Response Squad.”
“Together, the two units have begun community-oriented recruiting efforts,” it continued. “This is accomplished by partnering the Employment Services Unit with the numerous Police Chief’s advisory boards that are organized by the Community Response Squad.
It said the Employment Services Unit attends advisory board meetings and “cooperatively works with members of the board to encourage members of their respective communities to explore careers in law enforcement.”
It added the department “supports and assists advisory boards which represent the following communities: African American, Arab, Asian, cross-disability, faith-based, Hispanic, Jewish, LGBTQ, Muslim, American Indian, Refugee, and Sikh communities.”
“In addition, the Employment Services Unit recently began working on proactive communication strategies to engage with the community at large by exploring innovative means of reaching as many community members as possible,” the report added.
“The recruiting team recently began conducting monthly Instagram Live video sessions where background investigations staff and current employees share their experiences with the public audience.
“Live video question and answer sessions last approximately 45 minutes and each month an employee from a different department within the police department makes themselves available to answer the public’s questions about what makes their job unique.
“The Instagram platform allows the recruiting team to reach the community at large regardless of where they are.”
It also said, “The Department will continue to improve processes by implementing technology such as a new communications platform that will allow recruiters to communicate with applicants through instant messaging through texts.
“In addition, the Employment Services Unit will continue to analyze the steps an applicant goes through during the hiring process to ensure the department is operating with equity and efficiency.”
During a subcommittee hearing in February, Police Department officials said last December’s 450 marked the year’s highest monthly total of recruit applications and that January 2025 applications surged to 571.
They also pointed to a steady increase in applications over the course of 2024 and predicted:
“We believe that our process improvements have streamlined our hiring practices, so the level of a level upward trend is evidence of our more organized and methodical approach to processing applicants through the process.
“We believe that going into 2025 we will continue to see the steady increase and avoid the dips and valleys of the years past.”
While department officials predicted they’ll fill the gap in filled positions by December 2027, that wasn’t good enough for Councilman Tom Waring, who contended that “the number of officers per capita Phoenicians has plummeted since the 1990s” because the city’s overall population has exploded in recent decades.
“Say it all you want,” Waring continued. “There is no way to dispute that means fewer officers out patrolling our streets, fewer officers responding to calls of guns in schools, which we get all the time… break ins – just fewer officers respond.”
He noted the city has set aside the money to meet the department’s hiring target “but we’ve made it such an unattractive job with public statements and everything else. Now here we are. That’s really frustrating, and as someone who actually lives in Phoenix himself, I don’t appreciate it.”
Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien also questioned the department’s ability to achieve full staffing in two years “if our retention stays as it has the last three years.”
She questioned the absence of retention projections, stating, “How will we be answering the calls from everyday citizens when our numbers are not going the right direction?”
Councilman Kevin Robinson, who retired as assistant police chief after more than 36 years in the Phoenix Police Department, also noted at that hearing that Phoenix’s hiring standards are “pretty strict.”
Department officials told him that about 13% of recruit candidates are disqualified across the board for failing to meet state standards for law enforcement officers and one of the most common reasons is prior drug use.