The Detroit Police Department (DPD) wants to hire 500 new officers but is having trouble meeting recruitment goals, according to 2nd Deputy Chief James Tate, head of the police department’s public information office.

The recruitment effort, which was put into effect in June last year, has been stunted by the meager advertising budget and a lack of interest among qualified young people.

“Our numbers are down. There’s been a moving away from police positions […] possibly due to pop culture,” Tate said. “If you look around the country, the same thing is happening.” Many components of pop culture including movies, music, video games carry an anti-police sentiment. 

Tate said the DPD feels the lack of interest in police positions worse because of unfavorable Michigan winters and not enough money in the budget to promote the recruitment effort or to entice new hires with bonuses.

“Some warmer cities come to the Midwest to recruit officers,” Tate said, “It’s a fairly common practice now.”

Tate believes a lot of young people are more interested in high-profile, higher-paying jobs in the private sector. “You don’t join the police for the money. You do it because you want to help people,” he said.

The problem is not just hiring new officers; it’s keeping the officers the department already has. The DPD has lost 1,000 officers over the past five years, according to Tate. Today, there are 3,000 police officers in Detroit.

Since the ambitious recruitment effort began last June, only 26 new officers have been added to the police department. Tate said the low number is partially due to the six months it takes to graduate from the police academy.

“There is rigorous testing, this is not something we take lightly,” Tate said. “A large number show interest but are not filling the requirements for various reasons.”

Continued – From June through October last year, there had not been enough officers hired to put a class together at the academy because a significant number of applicants did not meet basic requirements, including the initial drug screening, the written exam and the physical exam. Tate said it takes 25-30 students to make a class.

There is no deadline to get 500 officers. According to Tate, it’s a moving target. He said that 500 is just the number of positions that need to be filled at the moment, and that number is constantly changing. “As we hire, there are always people leaving,” Tate said. “When we lose officers through attrition, we have to do something to beef up the department.”

Police officers leave for many reasons, including budget restrictions, relocating to warmer cities or switching to work for the private sector, according to a survey conducted by Police Chief magazine.

Another reason Detroit may be having trouble finding officers is the city’s reputation for high crime rates. While annual Detroit homicide rates have been on an overall decline since 1988, there was a 16 percent increase between 2005 and 2006 according to a report published by Wayne State University’s Center for Urban Studies. The sharp population decline may have something to do with it.  A total of 104,354 residents left Detroit between 2000 and 2007 bringing the crime rate up from 40 to 48 murders per 100,000 residents.

“These are tough times. With the economy and everything, people are getting desperate,” said a Detroit police officer who did not want his name published. “When I first started five years ago it was fun. Now it’s a lot tougher, but I still love my job.”

Before new officers are allowed into squad cars, they first have to complete foot patrol in order to learn the city better and grow accustomed to their public. “It gives them the opportunity to see what it is like to be an officer in a non-confrontational environment,” Tate said. “They learn that the police […] are not just robots, they care, they have personalities.”

With its growing debt, the city has tightened its fiscal belt on many programs, but the police department is not one of them, according to Tate. “The police department is something we can’t cut back on,” he said.

Anyone interested in applying can contact the Detroit Police at (313) 596-2660 or visit the recruiting office at 14655 Dexter.