The Covington Board of Commissioners has recently amended application requirements for its police officers.
Changes are intended to open the opportunity to more individuals by removing stipulations, the board announced, with the intention to expand the number of eligible candidates.
Previously, applicants must have held prior positions at other police departments, have served in the military, or have a certain number of college credit hours to apply. By removing the requirements, more consideration is given to applicants with continuous employment in areas unrelated to law enforcement. However, they must have other qualifications.
Now, an applicant must meet one or more of these standards:
• Have obtained an associate degree from an accredited college or university, or equivalent hours while working toward a bachelor’s degree with an average grade of “C” or above.
• Have an established work history of a minimum of two years.
• Have a minimum of 24 months of continuous active duty in regular military service with an honorable discharge.
• Or have a minimum of two years of full-time continuous employment as a municipal, county or state police officer.
Covington is not alone in tweaking the recruitment process to grow their pool of applications, as many police departments are facing ongoing recruitment and retention challenges. To address these issues in Covington, the department has stepped up their game by attending more hiring fairs and more aggressive marketing in addition to changing requirements.
In a 2021 Police Executive Research Forum survey on Police Workforce trends, researchers found that resignations increased in 2020-21 compared to 2019-20, and rises in police retirements were even larger, seeing a 45% increase in the retirement rate.
Smaller police departments in rural towns often have more difficulty hiring officers than larger, better-funded cities. Many officers and potential recruits prefer positions in larger cities that offer higher pay, more chances for advancement, and specialist roles within the community. Changes to policy hope to reverse this notion and attract more applicants. Faced with staffing shortages in the City of Alexandria, the City opted to amend their PTO policy to help balance the number of officers on their beats at any given time.
The Covington Police Department is currently hiring cadets and full-fledged officers, with details of the current openings can be found on the Police Department’s employment page.