THE ADVOCATE reports that Stamford, CT will soon be offering rolling recruitment applications in an effort to get more qualified officers. City officials previously gave the police department qualifying test every two or three years but have been holding it more often because they are struggling to find qualified job applicants amid a national shortage. The city's human resources department plans to start accepting police employment applications on a rolling basis by the end of this year and to offer written exams four times annually to help boost recruitment. The last written police exam was in February 2007. Of the 115 applicants who took the test, 87 passed. The pool of eligible applicants fell to 75 after the oral exams. More dropped out after they went through a background check and polygraph and drug testing. The city's financial woes compound the problem. Because of a hiring freeze stemming from budget cuts last year, the first eligible applicants weren't hired until last month. "The chief wants to see regularly scheduled exams," police spokesman Lt. Sean Cooney said, noting that Police Chief Brent Larrabee has been pushing for greater testing frequency since he took the job in 2005. He thinks the testing changes "would go a long way toward our recruiting and hiring problems." "Everybody wants this change," said Maggi Murray, a personnel analyst in the city's human resources department. "It keeps an ongoing batch of candidates. The problem we've had in the past . . . I think people who are applying for our exam are also applying for other municipalities. There's a lot of
They're biggest problem is that they were making certified officers go through the academy again...in attempts to build camaraderie. I'm all about making nice w/ the guys you're working with...but Larrabee's idea lost a lot of "more qualified officers." He would have had at least 6 from my department (and we only have 51!)...his loss, our gain...but he screwed up, plain and simple. Luckily for some, he took that away...but still, good luck getting anyone! Applications are done throughout the country, why would Stamford be any different??? By the way dude....your post ends before I think you wanted it to.
By the way dude....your post ends before I think you wanted it to. Sorry. Actually it ended four words more than it wanted it to. Ignore "There's a lot of"
