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Local police say interest is down but they’re hiring

Police nationally are noticing a decline in interest in law enforcement but it’s necessary work and — if you’re looking — jobs are available.

Locally, law enforcement agencies are seeing the results of a national trend and are having trouble filling open posts. Part of the issue with keeping positions filled has to do with competition with other law enforcement agencies as well as public perception.

“There has been an undeserved national negative attention placed on police,” Floyd County Police Department Assistant Police Chief Mark Wallace said.

Warden Mike Long at the Floyd County Prison backed up that assertion.

“From my experience and talking to my colleagues around the state, I believe the national negative media attention has severely impacted young people choosing law enforcement as a career,” Long said.

Even small things, like allowing officers to drive their cars home after a shift, add up when it comes to retaining personnel. Some departments pay a little more or have better equipment and those things add up.

“We’re in competition with other police agencies, both larger and smaller,” Wallace said.

Recently the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office relaxed certain rules about visible tattoos and facial hair on a trial basis to recruit new employees and keep them once there.

Standards

All new law enforcement hires go through an orientation process which will include physical as well as written testing. Rome police, along with all of the other agencies, also conducts a thorough background check including psychological and physical exams.

The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council has to accept and approve the application before recruits can be admitted into the police academy. Upon graduation, recruits will enter additional field training.

For example, for the Rome Police Department there is a 17-week field training program, Assistant Rome Police Chief Debbie Burnett said.

A lot of it, as in any stressful, profession comes down to having pride in what you do. Wallace said that’s doubly true in police work. “When police work is done right there’s not a more dignified profession,” Wallace said.