CLEVELAND — Cleveland's expedited hiring weekend helped to produce 620 new applicants who would like to become a Cleveland police officer, but will this success have an impact in solving the city's prolific officer shortage?
Cleveland's Chief Director of Public Safety, Karrie Howard, explained the hiring event generated 361 new applicants, pushing the total number of new applicants to 620 in just the fourth quarter of 2023.
Howard explained his goal is to have 200 new police officers on the streets within the next several months. Howard told News 5 why he believes the event was such a success.
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"We were able to have the application, the physical agility test, the interviews, finger printing, we made all these things available in one day," Howard said. "If an applicant does the 12 week abbreviated class we could have officers on the streets by June, ready for the summer, those are the OPATA certified folks. For the ones who have to go through the full 7-month academy, those folks would be on the streets in the fall.”
Cleveland City Council Safety Committee Chair Michael Polensek told News 5 he's encouraged by the large group of new Cleveland police applicants but pointed out a large number of applicants failed to solve the shortage of some 300 officers over the past year.
“We put in the budget to hire 180 this year, I think it was 38 they hired, last number I saw," Polensek said. “We had 299 apply last time and they only hired 11. So the question we are asking is why are so many people being knocked out. Why are so many people being bounced out at the back end, and they won’t give us a definitive reason.”
Meanwhile, Howard remained optimistic and commended city employees and volunteers for helping to attract such a significant number of applicants.
“I want to thank our Public Safety Ambassador Program; this was all hands on deck, everyone who loves the city, and I want to thank them, and I want to thank the recruitment team," Howard said. "Anyone between the ages of 21 and 54 who is interested in becoming a Cleveland police officer should contact the Cleveland Police Recruitment Team at 216-623-5233.
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