Police upgrade recruiting practices

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The Springfield Police Department has a new perspective on recruitment, for which it can thank the business community. |ret||ret||tab|

Its new approach uses the Internet as a recruiting tool.|ret||ret||tab|

"Our Internet strategy developed like it does in business out of necessity," said Maj. Hal Smith, services division commander of the Springfield Police Department.|ret||ret||tab|

For Smith and the department, necessity is filling seats in the academies. |ret||ret||tab|

Recruitment concerns have been on the rise since 1997, when the number of applicants began to plunge. There were 291 applicants in 1997and 160 in 2000, a 45 percent decrease in the last four years.|ret||ret||tab|

"That was really concerning us," he said. "A decreased applicant pool means empty seats in academies, which ultimately transfers to empty seats in patrol cars."|ret||ret||tab|

To boost these increasingly low numbers Smith and other administrators attended, in February, a three-day business recruiting and hiring workshop in New Orleans, put on by and for private industry. There, they learned from recruiters and executives from such companies as IBM, Dell, MCI Worldcom and MetLife. |ret||ret||tab|

"We found that everybody was experiencing a real hiring challenge; we were all in the same boat," said Smith, a police officer for 26 years who now manages the jail, crime lab, records and property and the regional police academy. |ret||ret||tab|

Smith also co-manages the recruiting and hiring functions with human resources.|ret||ret||tab|

Of the 300 organizations represented, Smith said only two others were government agencies: the U.S. Air Force and the CIA.|ret||ret||tab|

"I think maybe government hasn't quite caught on that there's something to learn from the business community," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Smith said that the No. 1 thing the companies suggested was to put a greater emphasis on Internet recruiting so that's just what he did upon returning to Springfield. |ret||ret||tab|

"We began to emphasize our Web site (|bold_on|http://springfield.missouri.org/gov) in every recruiting and marketing endeavor that we did," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Some of the new tactics used by the police department include:|ret||ret||tab|

Hiring information is now included on about 10 different Web sites targeted to law enforcement that provide a list of departments currently hiring.|ret||ret||tab|

A six-minute "sales pitch video" is now available on a CD-ROM disc that can be uploaded and played by computer;|ret||ret||tab|

T-shirts with the Web address and 800 number are increasing visibility. They have been distributed to the department's eight interns and the Southwest Missouri State University Criminal Justice Society, and are handed out at career fairs.|ret||ret||tab|

Relationships with local criminal justice professors to whom department can e-mail information about recruiting have led to classroom appearances at SMSU and Evangel University by several police officers and administrators. |ret||ret||tab|

The students "really get a good feel for the department," said SMSU Criminal Justice Professor Mike Carlie, who has been at SMSU since 1986 and created its criminal justice program. |ret||ret||tab|

"The Springfield PD typically comes out shining when we bring these officers in," he added.|ret||ret||tab|

Carlie said that at least 10 people from the department speak to his classes during a semester, and there are at least 30 SMSU graduates on the force.|ret||ret||tab|

Smith agrees that this relationship is a great way to relay information to the students and said that it often leads to internships. |ret||ret||tab|

He said that in the past, 20 percent to 25 percent of the police academy classes consist of previous interns.|ret||ret||tab|

Evangel University usually has two interns at the police department per semester, said Evangel professor Bob Certin, who teaches in the criminal justice department and is a former full-time Springfield police officer, now serving as a reserve officer.|ret||ret||tab|

"I have a real vested interest in getting good, qualified applicants in that police department," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

The department also is working on compressing the hiring process. Smith said he learned from the seminar that it is important to shorten the time between the initial contact and the time a job is offered, especially to the 20-something individual, who is used to a much shorter time frame because of computer and Internet use. |ret||ret||tab|

He said a new hire takes about five to six months. |ret||ret||tab|

"So far we've been able to cut two weeks out of that process and we're working on some more ways to shorten that time span," Smith said. |ret||ret||tab|

"Because again, we're not dealing with somebody who is patient over six months," he added.|ret||ret||tab|

The police department is now recruiting for the July 2001 academy class, but January's academy will not be full, Smith said. The deadline for the July academy is Dec. 8.|ret||ret||tab|

"We're optimistic that in the July academy some of these strategies are going to pay off and that we'll fill that one," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Smith said he is very pleased with what he learned from the workshops, and it was worth the investment of time and money to go.|ret||ret||tab|

"There is a lot to be learned there as long as you recognize there is a fundamental difference between business and government, and it generally falls in the area of profit motive," Smith said. |ret||ret||tab|

"When you get into areas like this there are commonalities there, and if the business community is ahead of us in something, we need to learn what they're doing and replicate it to the extent that we can," he added.[[In-content Ad]]