AREA POLICE DEPARTMENTS SEEK RECRUITS

Police departments and sheriff's offices around the Charlotte region
are chasing an elusive target: qualified recruits.

They're trying new tactics, such as the Internet, movie theaters and
face-to-face promotion, instead of waiting for applicants to show up
at the precinct.

Finding qualified candidates is harder today, say law enforcement
officials, for several reasons:

* Society is more permissive than in decades past, making it harder
to find recruits with completely clean backgrounds.

* Departments today often prefer recruits with two- and four-year
college degrees, but police pay has not kept pace with many other
professional fields.

* Attitudes toward police have changed. The job is not as
prestigious as it once was, just as departments are looking for more
diverse candidates.

"Back in the day, you probably could just sit here in the office and
accept applications," said Huntersville police training and recruiting
Officer Frank Comer. "Now it's not like that."

Recently, Comer pitched the benefits of working for his 58-member
department at a graduation ceremony for Basic Law Enforcement Training
students at Mitchell Community College in Statesville.

He and other officers handed out information packets and shook 10
graduates' hands. But other than two graduates who have previously
expressed interest in his department, Comer has not heard back from
anyone he met that night.

Around the country, the story is the same for law enforcement
agencies: a smaller pool of eligible candidates, said Hubert Williams,
president of the Police Foundation in Washington, a nonprofit group
dedicated to improving American policing.

Because the Charlotte area is growing, departments say they're not
experiencing the extreme shortages plaguing other parts of the country.

But if they don't constantly recruit and try innovative methods, they
can easily fall behind, they say.

"I expect my staff to recruit like we're 20 short all the time," said
Rock Hill Police Chief John Gregory.

Changing recruitment efforts

Area departments battle traditional turnover issues, such as
retirement, in addition to trying to keep up with growth.For example,
the Rock Hill department recently got permission to over-hire to
offset the lag time between hiring and putting an officer on the street.

City employees who recruit certified officers that pass probation will
now get a cash bonus: $500 for officers from outside the state and
$1,000 for S.C. officers since there's less retraining.

And the department is developing recruiting video CDs to hand out at
job fairs and military bases.

"It's just a different generation," Gregory said. "We need to adjust
to that. Our recruiting has to be flashier."

A good Web site is key, say local law enforcement officials, because
so many people are looking to relocate and most departments don't have
money to advertise outside the area.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department uses its Web site to reach
much sought-after female candidates with an entire section on its
female officers.

Six months ago it put up an online video called "What a Life!" about
the benefits of being a female CMPD officer.

And then there are departments, such as the Alexander County Sheriff's
Office with 26 sworn officers, that has a low-tech way of keeping good
candidates in the pipeline. For years it has paid part-time officers,
usually people with other careers, and then recruits exclusively from
that pool.

"They know before they ever apply (for full time) if they're going to
make it at that salary range or not," said Sheriff Hayden Bentley.

The starting salary for a patrol deputy there is $24,700.

High standards to be met

No matter what types of tactics they try, local officers say it's
harder to find people who meet law enforcement's stringent employment
standards.

That's because society has gotten more permissive about how it views
drug use or youthful run-ins with the law, local officials say.

"Every time we talk to police chiefs, wherever we are, this is a
problem and the problem is growing more acute," said Williams of the
national Police Foundation.

In the Carolinas, the state sets the minimum standards and certifies
all officers and sheriff's deputies, but some departments require more.

N.C. law enforcement officers can't have felony convictions and there
are various rules about the number and type of misdemeanor convictions
and how long ago they occurred.

Candidates' backgrounds are researched and some departments require
polygraph tests.

Prior drug use is not the only red flag. Departments look at
applicants' driving records, prior employment history, financial
records and more.

"A lot of people see it as, well they made a mistake," and apply
anyway, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg police training director Capt. Dale
Greene.

That can leave departments considering people they never would have 20
or 30 years ago.

Mooresville hires one officer for every 30 to 40 applicants.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg gets requests for about 800 applications a year
and gives out about 450. From those, CMPD hires about 60 to 70 a
year.

"It's more and more frequent that we find it's hardly anybody out
there that hasn't used drugs ...," Mooresville Police Chief John Crone
said. "They don't even mind telling you how many times."

In fact, when candidates don't mention any prior drug use, "you're
even more suspicious of those people," said Mooresville Capt. Carl
Robbins.

It's about more than money

The good news for local departments is the same quality of life that
makes the Charlotte region attractive to so many newcomers also
attracts veteran police officers from other areas.Many local
departments say that helps them from experiencing officer shortages.

Potential recruits from other parts of the country are often sold on
the region's benefits, such as lower taxes, affordable home prices and
good schools, especially outside of Charlotte.

"In years past, you recruited strictly on what your police department
had to offer," said Concord Police Chief Merl Hamilton. "But now we're
finding more success recruiting not just what our Police Department
has to offer, but what Concord can offer."

Area departments say they're getting officers and inquiries from New
York, New Jersey, Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania, California and Texas.

"When you recruit, you have to sell it all," Gregory of Rock Hill
said.

Unlike many other local departments, CMPD won't hire certified
officers from other states, although it's reconsidering that policy.

The pay scale for officers and deputies, which ranges from about
$25,000 to $36,000 for entry-level positions around the region
depending on a candidate's education level, can be a deterrent,
especially since many area departments say they prefer candidates with
college degrees.

On the other hand, law enforcement officials say it won't keep away
the most dedicated candidates.

Mooresville officer Andrea Taylor took a $7,000 pay cut to move from a
detention officer position at the Mecklenburg Sheriff's Office to the
Mooresville Police Department because she wanted to be on the streets
patrolling. She later moved back to the Sheriff's Office because of
the higher pay, but then decided to return to the Mooresville force
because she preferred the small-town atmosphere.

Originally from Wisconsin, Taylor said she likes the area and the
department so much she wouldn't work anywhere else.

"Money does not make you happy," she said.

Comparing Career Pay

Annual mean salaries in November 2004* Occupation Charlotte-Gastonia-
Rock Hill MSA mean

Tax preparer $36,890

Computer programmer $73,140

Civil engineer $68,230

Secondary school teacher

(except special and vocational ed.) $41,410

Registered nurses $52,230

Police and sheriff's officers/deputies $42,100

SOURCE: U.S. Dept. of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics

* Figures are an average for all workers in the occupation and do not
take experience level into account.