“Law enforcement has had its challenges since the beginning. This is just another challenge that needs to be met,” said York Area Regional Police Chief Tim Damon, who heads a local police coalition.
December 08, 2021 – By Harper Ho – Source The York Dispatch, Pa.
Police departments in York County and across the country are struggling to recruit the next generation of police officers.
Law enforcement officials point to a number of causes, including a mass exodus of retirees, long-running pay disparities and the stigma of police brutality that has grown since the murder of George Floyd.
Locally, the number of people who applied to be police officers through the Metropolitan York Police Testing Consortium — a coalition of York-area departments that share administrative duties — dipped to a near 18-year low in 2021, according to the coalition’s count.
“What we discovered in January was that our numbers were very low. They were the lowest they had been since 2003,” said York City Police spokesperson Lt. Dan Lentz.
As for why? “I don’t know,” he said. “I think it’s worth exploring.”
Everywhere, from large cities to tiny towns, far fewer people want to become police officers. That’s forcing departments of all sizes to step back and rethink how they fill their ranks.
A steady decline
The consortium had been holding recruitment fairs every other year, but that changed to every year in 2018 because it wasn’t getting enough applicants.
The latest job fair in January saw only 185 applications, which is the lowest since 2003, when 104 people applied, according to the consortium.
The high-water mark was in 2011, when it received 749 applicants. The next highest was in 2013, when 573 people applied, and in 2015, which saw 362 applicants.
“So basically within that four-year period, we lost 50% of the applicants,” said York Area Regional Police Chief Tim Damon, who heads the consortium. “Moving on from there, we’ve slowly been losing more.”
Eight of York County’s 20 police departments currently participate in the hiring consortium. York City Police separated from the consortium following January’s job fair because of low turnout, Lentz said.
The consortium exists as a way to consolidate resources for both the applicants and police departments. An applicant can pay a single fee to apply to all eight departments. The departments then can scout those who pass the entire process.
Participating in the consortium are the boroughs of Hanover and West York; the townships of Penn, Spring Garden, Springettsbury and West Manchester; and two regional departments — Southern Regional and York Area Regional.
The George Floyd effect
Being a police officer used to be a highly regarded profession. But, increasingly, vacancies are staying open longer than usual as departments search for qualified candidates.
“This started well before the death of George Floyd,” Damon said. “This trend has been happening for years. And I don’t foresee that it’s going to stop anytime soon.”
Police recruiters today are stymied by increasingly tougher standards for new recruits, competition from the dot-com world and a tarnished image following societal unrest and racial reckoning in recent years.
It’s par for the course that younger generations are going to view tech jobs as a more viable career than chasing bad guys as society evolves and technology advances, Damon said.
Pay disparities — a longtime problem — still exist, making it difficult to attract would-be officers and keep newly trained recruits when a neighboring jurisdiction offers more money and benefits.
Then, of those who are interested in joining the force, the vast majority get rejected or drop out during the rigorous application process, Damon said.
Candidates must pass physical, written and psychological tests, successfully complete a background check, have a drug-free history and more.
It shouldn’t be a numbers game because “you want to bring the right people on,” Lentz said, but that is what the consortium is seeing.
“So that’s where we’re losing a lot of people in that process,” Damon said. “The rule right now is if you want to hire one person, then you’re going to need a list of 10 candidates to find one.”
A string of high-profile cases in which Black people died at the hands of police officers in recent years has stained the profession.
Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was killed by a white police officer last year in Minneapolis. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murder in June and sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison.
Floyd’s death ignited nationwide protests, including in York City, against police brutality.
Coverage of similar cases — including those involving Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Freddie Gray — had already created discourse and shattered trust between people and police.
A broad brush was painted across the entire profession rather than the individuals involved, Damon said. The “bad press” discouraged people from becoming officers and also prompted some officers to jump ship, he said.
Damon has some first-hand experience with that kind of public scrutiny. After he spoke to The York Dispatch for this article, he faced a private criminal complaint over his department’s handling last month of the Vicosa sisters’ kidnapping. The girls were abducted by their father and later killed.
The state allows individuals to file private criminal complaints that are reviewed by local district attorneys to determine whether further action is merited. That complaint, apparently filed by the girls’ mother, is being processed by the state Attorney General’s Office. Damon declined to comment on the active investigation.
Retirements
In the year since Floyd’s death, the rate of retirements at some departments rose 45% compared with the previous year — according to new research on nearly 200 law enforcement agencies conducted by the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum and provided to The Associated Press. At the same time, hiring slowed by 5%, the group found.
Law enforcement at both the local and state level in the commonwealth has pledged to enact reforms, such as ending policies that give officers immunity for their actions while on duty.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro spoke in September after meeting with Lancaster officials to highlight challenges police departments are facing in recruiting and retention.
“This is obviously a critical time for law enforcement. More is being asked of this noble profession than ever before,” he said, and the pressure continues to grow.
Shapiro, who has tossed his hat in the ring for governor, said he asked the state legislature to set aside $28.5 million to address the staffing crisis.
Police departments today also say they are seeking recruits who don’t fit the mold and are committed to hiring people who represent their communities.
Here in York County, Damon said he believes bringing back community policing will help flip the script.
“It is investment in community policing that is going to get us back to having that relationship and connection with the community,” he said.
“Law enforcement has had its challenges since the beginning,” Damon added. “This is just another challenge that needs to be met. You get through it. You adapt, you evolve over time, and there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.”
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