ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Police Department is teaming up with the Department of Defense’s SkillBridge program to recruit active-duty military members transitioning out of service.
Over the last two years, RPD has worked with the program to build the city’s next police officers. News10NBC’s Garrett Chan reports on how the department is addressing its staffing shortage by looking to men and women serving in the military.
Back in April, News10NBC told you about RPD’s efforts to fill 120 open spots. RPD’s head of recruitment Sergeant Justin Collins said the department saw a 50% increase in applications last spring, but it’s not enough to keep up with the pace of retiring officers. The SkillBridge program aims to address that.
“We have leaders consistently knocking at our door contacting us saying, ‘I want to serve at a different level. I want to serve. And I served our country, and I want to serve the city of Rochester.’ And we love that. I can’t think of a better place to go to find future leaders for this police department than the United States military,” Collins said.
Members from all branches of the military spend the last six months of service to develop job skills, build connections and find what role may be right for them. Collins said the program helps them find the right people for the job.
“They want to figure out whether this is an organization that they want to work for and a profession that they want to work for. And we get to figure out whether we want them to work here as police officers. So we do get a considerable amount of time with them,” he said.
Collins said there are five active-duty military members currently in the pipeline, waiting to enter the academy later this year. Speaking with a couple of them, they told News10NBC the transition from the military to RPD has been seamless.
“Going from having a higher purpose to nothing is pretty hard. But coming here gives you the level to the you’re still serving, you still have the pride and still have the purpose,” said Lance Cpl. Bryan Salvador Gonzalez of the United States Marine Corps.
“What I’ve seen so far is it’s a tight knit brotherhood. Everybody works together. Everybody takes care of each other. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s just like the military,” said Steven Wright, who served in the U.S. Marines for 21 years.
Collins told News10NBC it took RPD a year and a half to get the ball rolling with SkillBridge to begin the recruiting process. As of now, he said RPD is the only police department in the state participating in the program.
Collins said RPD performs screenings and background checks for prospective members. Wages are covered by the military. The department will be bringing in six more individuals from the SkillBridge program throughout the summer and into the fall.
Rochester Police Department recruiting active-duty military members through SkillBridge to address staffing shortage WHEC.com.
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