Akron police hiring 50 officers, looking for diverse candidates
Akron police launched a new recruiting effort Monday and are looking to hire at least 50 new officers over the next two years.
The department said it wants to attract a large number of qualified and diverse candidates and is hoping a paid training academy, high starting pay, increased age range and other changes will help it cast a large net.
Applications are open, and the department is hoping to have an eligibility test for candidates this summer. Then it plans to run two police academies in 2022, with about 25 future Akron officers in each class.
The department currently has about 450 officers. By the end of the process, it expects to be near full strength, just shy of 470 officers, factoring in retirements.
Deputy Chief Michael Caprez said the department has done a lot to make Akron an appealing force to join.
In 2019, Akron police reintroduced its academy and started paying cadets $28.30 an hour with benefits during their 24-week training. The maximum age was raised from 35 to 40, which Caprez said was done to attract both diverse candidates and military veterans.
“We agree that we want to have a police department that looks like the people we serve,” Caprez said.
The department also has enlisted help from the YMCA to help cadets train for the physical performance tests.
Caprez said the wider the department can cast its net, the better.
Paid training is a ‘game changer’
For Cameron Mcgowan, who grew up Akron and joined the department last year, the paid academy was a game changer.
“Honestly, that opened up the door tremendously,” Mcgowan said. “I was interested before that, but that sealed the deal.”
Mcgowan, 32, said it would have been close to impossible to provide for his family and leave his job to attend a police academy. Many academies are full-time and charge tuition, and there’s no guarantee of a job upon completion.
He graduated from Akron’s academy in May 2020, and has been a patrolman since then.
He said he didn’t always want to be a police officer; he just wanted to help people. School-resource officers he bonded with in high school pointed him toward public service. Mcgowan was choosing between becoming an officer or a firefighter, but said a ride-along helped him fall in love with police work.
Home is where the heart is, and after growing up on Akron’s east and west sides, he didn’t want to move away. The paid academy helped him transition from working in corrections to policing in his home town.
Mcgowan said he tries to bridge the gap when he’s on calls. He said many people are upset because they’re confused. He said the extra effort to explain what’s going on goes a long way.
“I was in their position,” he said. “I know how they feel.”
He said in lower-income areas, going without an income for six to seven months for training could mean financial ruin. Mcgowan said he believes the department’s changes put Akron police “on the forefront” on being able to attract more diverse candidates.
Madison Hooper, one of five officers on the Akron police recruiting team, echoed the opportunity the paid academy provided. She and other officers will go out to malls, schools and baseball games to help attract candidates.
She said she’s also hoping she can inspire more women to join the force. Hooper, 26, said she had always been interested in policing, but that it did feel like a boys’ club. Seeing another young female officer changed that for her.
“It really opened up my eyes like, ‘I can totally be like her,’” Hooper said.
Damber Subba, 33, said he hopes he can do the same thing for Akron’s diverse refugee community. In 2017 when he was the first Akron officer to be hired from a refugee background.
He just joined the recruiting team this year, but he said he feels like he’s been recruiting for years. When he was hired, he was flooded with congratulatory calls and emails. Subba said people often stop to talk to him about being a cop.
Subba said two younger men from Akron’s refugee community recently stopped him to talk outside the police station. He said one told him, “It’s one thing to say you can be who you want to be, the sky is the limit. It’s different to see someone do that job.”
He said he’s from the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese community, one of several refugee groups including Mon, Karen, Burmese and Congolese that now call Akron home. Each have their own cultures and religions, he said.
Subba said there’s easily 10,000 people from refugee communities in Akron. He said he expects people from those communities will soon start applying to become Akron officers.
He said the department has a lot of selling points. In addition to the pay, he said the benefits are great. A full benefit package is $15 a week for a single person and $30 a week for a family, according to Akron’s recruiting website.
Current cadets share why they chose Akron academy
Ron Massengill and Jordan Costy are both cadets in the current academy.
Massengill, 34, said the paid academy was a great opportunity, but that being a cop in Akron was always his number one choice. He said he’s wanted to be an officer since he was young and was encouraged to do so by family friends who were also officers.
Costy, 29, said she’s wanted to be an officer for a while, as well. She said Akron’s paid academy was a great opportunity and factored into why she chose Akron.
Both said the opportunities within Akron’s department were appealing. Massengill said he hopes to be a K-9 officer. He had a German Shepherd at home and has wanted to work with dogs even when he was in the military.
Costy said she also wanted to work with K-9s, but after going through training she became interested in the juvenile crime unit. She said she’s always been a protector, and it stood out as a place where she could make a difference.
Building careers in Akron and beyond
In May 2020, 45 new Akron officers graduated and moved onto various patrol shifts. Another 15 Akron cadets are in training and are expected to graduate in mid-august.
The class of 45 that graduated in May 2020 was 22% Black and one of the most diverse classes in recent history, according to the city. The class currently in training has two Black cadets and four women out of 15 Akron cadets.
Recently, the department has also opened up the academy to other departments.