City on right track for police recruiting
Star News
Editorials
The city of Medford is on the right track with a plan to sponsor prospective police officers to go through the training academy program.
Like many other employers, the city of Medford is facing challenges in filling skilled positions. As with other employers, the city needs to be willing to adapt to the realities of a changing job market. The days of simply hanging a help wanted sign in the window and getting dozens of qualified applicants are long gone.
The challenges governments face in recruiting staff for any position is that they often require specialized skills, but cannot offer the level of compensation and potential job growth that is available in private sector employment.
Added to this is when it comes to law enforcement in particular, it is not simply enough to get a warm body to fill a uniform, but to find individuals who bring with them the necessary skills and attributes that will allow them to be exemplary officers. Officers must be expected to handle situations that can range from keeping the peace to needing to make instant decisions that could result in life-or-death situations.
A quick scan of national headlines shows what happens when municipalities accept lower standards on hiring police officers. In order to continue the strong tradition of maintaining high hiring standards, it makes sense to look to getting the best candidate and then paying for their training. The skilled trades have been doing this for some time, searching out those with the aptitude to do the job and giving them the training and skill development.
While there is always a risk that the person will leave and go elsewhere with that training, it is a worthwhile risk to take based on the numbers over the years who have stayed in the community their entire careers.
Beyond law enforcement, other public sector employers should embrace this model as a way to get high-quality employees in specialized positions. The investment in education and training will have a long-term payback.
