ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Police Department is facing a critical shortage of officers, with over 100 positions currently unfilled. Despite ongoing recruitment efforts, the department is struggling to attract new candidates.
“We’re still just not seeing the numbers and seeing the folks that are interested so that continues to be a struggle,” says Chief David Smith of the Rochester Police Department. The shortage is so severe that it’s outpacing the rate of new hires. Chief Smith highlighted the disparity, saying, “I have a recruit class graduating on Friday, it’s 5, I’ve had 5 retirements just this month.”
In recent years, RPD has made strides in diversifying its force to better reflect the community it serves. Last year, more than 60% of new hires were non-white and 30% were women.
The department had hoped that a recent change in state law, raising the maximum age for new recruits from 35 to 43, would help boost recruitment numbers. However, the desired impact has not yet materialized. “Projecting at who we have eligible to retire, if we’re unable to improve our retention or were unable to recruit more, we’re looking at more reductions moving forward for the next few years so that is definitely a scary prospect,” Chief Smith says.
The potential consequences of the ongoing shortage are significant, including changes to neighborhood patrols and longer response times to calls. RPD is now hoping that lateral transfers from other departments may help bridge the gap.
There are also discussions at the state level about potentially lowering the physical fitness standards for becoming a police officer. While most interested candidates have no issue passing the civil service test, it’s often the physical fitness test that ends their journey. However, as of now, the current standards remain in place.
RPD looking for lateral transfers as number of new recruits fails to keep pace with openings WHEC.com.
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