Fewer students headed to law enforcement jobs Police agencies seeing smaller applicant pools

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BANGOR – People don’t want to be cops like they once did. That’s the message police departments statewide are getting from a steadily declining number of job applicants over the years.

Enrollment in Maine criminal justice programs remains high, but police departments are struggling to attract an adequate pool of candidates to choose from.

Last month, the Old Town Police Department sought to fill two vacant positions, but received only 18 applications, compared to more than 100 when such jobs were advertised in the 1990s.

Seven or eight years ago, Old Town was one of seven agencies that pooled their applicants. One local police officer, who was hired there in the 1990s, recalled being among a pool of more than 300 applicants.

Having a large field of candidates is critical since half or more applicants are eliminated when they take the written and physical agility tests.

“I think it’s a tough market out there,” Old Town Police Chief Don O’Halloran said recently.

In the Bangor region, in recent months, law enforcement agencies have been hit especially hard by an unusually high turnover rate among officers. As a result, they are actively recruiting new hires.

In addition to Old Town, Bangor is looking to fill a position, and the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office earlier this month filled two jobs, which is “higher than usual,” according to Chief Deputy Troy Morton. One of the advertised positions was vacated by a deputy who transferred to the Brewer Police Department. One of the PSCO replacements is coming from Hermon that will now have to look for a replacement.

The problem extends beyond the county – even the state line.

“It’s a national problem; people don’t want to be cops like they once did,” said John Rogers, director of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in Vassalboro where enrollments have remained steady.

“The days of putting an ad in the paper and having people flock to you don’t happen anymore,” he said.

Institutions offering postsecondary criminal justice programs – where enrollment is limited – aren’t having problems filling slots.

At Beal College, participation in the law enforcement programs is up 15 percent from last year, which itself was a good year, according to a college official. At Thomas College in Waterville, enrollment has nearly tripled since the fall of 2001 when the first criminal justice major was offered.

Still, the numbers of applicants applying for jobs remain low.

Brewer police Lt. Chris Martin called it a “huge hiring void.” Martin was part of an applicant pool of more than 300 people when he was hired in Brewer in 1994, although he said Brewer has been fortunate in finding its most recent hires.

Those working in and around the law enforcement field – from police chiefs and officers to educators and professional associations – blame a variety of causes ranging from the changing role of the police officer to increased competition for better paying jobs.

It’s a much different working environment, for sure.

Police officers’ roles are changing as they deal more with domestic assaults and mental health issues, according to Bob Schwartz, executive director of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association.

And since Sept. 11, 2001, the heightened threat of terrorist attacks and of weapons of mass destruction have required training for new gear and procedures, Schwartz continued.

These added demands come at a time when the next generation of employees want regular-hour jobs that don’t require working nights or weekends.

Unlike in some careers, the workday often doesn’t end with the shift when police officers take their uniforms off. Even off duty, they are approached with questions, comments or people seeking assistance.

“The whole security service field doesn’t appeal to some people anymore,” Major Robert Williams of the Maine State Police, said earlier this month.

The pay scale and benefits in law enforcement fields may also be issues. Police officers’ income has improved, after lagging in the mid- to late 1990s.

The average hourly pay for Maine’s municipal and county police officers in 2000 was $13.10, compared to $14.15 for all occupations in all industries, Merrill Huhtala, manager for the Occupational Employment Statistics division of the Maine Department of Labor reported.

By May of 2005, the numbers for the police patrol category surpassed the average pay rates for the others, $16.91 per hour for police compared to $16.31 for all occupations.

Schwartz, who served for 30 years in law enforcement including as police chief in South Portland, remembered a time when full family health insurance coverage, at no cost to the officer, was an incentive for joining the force. Now many departments require employee contributions as healthcare costs continue to rise.

Last year, contracts in Penobscot County required for the first time that law enforcement officers contribute toward single coverage plans. Contributions for other plans, including family, already had been required for years.

Allen Stehle, president of Beal College in Bangor, suggests that law enforcement agencies may need to do a better job promoting themselves.

“I think that the agencies would be a lot better off if they would market themselves,” said Stehle, who served as chief deputy in Penobscot County in 2003.

“They don’t think like a business and I think they might be better if they did,” he said in a recent telephone interview.

That means redoubling efforts to identify possible recruits, holding open houses, job forums and job fairs as well as mentoring those who have shown an interest.

It also may mean offering incentives such as signing bonuses, which are used in the business world but less frequently in police agencies.

In the mid-coast region, competition for experienced police officers has been such that Camden officials offer up to $5,000 as a signing bonus for a new police officer who has worked for at least five years since graduating from the law enforcement academy.

Police Chief Phil Roberts said this approach may prove cheaper and more efficient than hiring less experienced recruits and sending them to the academy.

The Maine State Police recently stepped up its recruitment program and its recruiters visited two military bases in the Northeast region this summer. As a result, the number of applicants has improved slightly.

“I think we’ve hit bottom and started in the other direction,” Capt. Kyle Smart of the Old Town Police Department said. Smart, who has been a police officer for 22 years, saw an all-time low when only eight or nine people applied for a job posting a few years ago.

Williams said recruitment campaigns may be attracting young soldiers returning from duty in the Middle East.

He noted that many of these servicemen and women, who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, often still seek public service-related jobs and a regimented work environment like the armed forces.