Lynnwood police officer Jeff Mau was less than two weeks into the job when the dangerous side of being a cop came barreling at him.
Michael V. Martina / The Herald
He was training with guards in Lynnwood Municipal Court when a defendant ran for the door. Mau jumped in to help hold the man until officers could cart him off to jail.
“There’s nothing else like it. There’s nothing casual or laid back about it,” Mau, 27, said of his new career as an officer.
Mau left behind a better-paying job at Expedia Inc. in Bellevue last year to join the Lynnwood Police Department.
The department is fortunate to have found someone like Mau, said Alan Correa, Lynnwood ‘s field training officer. Police departments around the state are struggling to find qualified candidates to fill positions, he said.
Fewer people are taking the entrance exams, and even fewer are passing the required background checks, psychological evaluations and polygraph tests.
“It’s a problem across the state. I don’t know why that is,” said Everett Police Chief Jim Scharf, who recently served as president of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
As a result, police departments are spending more money and time recruiting qualified candidates.
“If I’m looking at a kid who’s 25 and used marijuana when they were 19 or 20, they’re done. The community expectation is too great. The most important thing we do is hire good people,” Mountlake Terrace Police Chief Scott Smith said.
The Everett Police Department has seven open positions and has hired three new officers so far this year. The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office expects to have 10 openings between now and December. It could take months and out-of-state searches to find qualified applicants, sheriff’s spokesman deputy Rich Niebusch said.
“We’re having a hell of a time” filling positions, King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. John Urquhart said. By the end of the summer, his office expects to have 40 openings. The department struggles each year to keep up with attrition.
“We’re a bit perplexed by it,” Urquhart said. “The allure of the police department is not as great as it used to be.”
Some attribute the small candidate pool to the strong economy. Police departments must compete with better-paying jobs that don’t require people to work holidays and nights or risk their lives.
The average pay for a starting police officer is between $40,000 and $45,000 a year.
The dangers of police work have increased over the years, said Smith, the Mountlake Terrace police chief. Officers encounter more people with guns and drugs than in the past. Last year, 154 officers died in the line of duty across the country.
“It’s not an easy job. It takes a significant amount of dedication and courage, and people don’t want to put up with it,” Smith said.
Some police officials say that there is less interest in the profession than there was 10 years ago.
“Cop jobs aren’t well sought after these days,” said Sgt. Ty Trenary, a recruiter for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
Trenary said when he took the civil service test in the late 1980s, there weren’t any openings and 300 applicants sought to get on a waiting list. Other veteran officers remember packed auditoriums with thousands of candidates hoping to become police officers.
Testing rigorous
Snohomish County gave an entry-level civil service exam and physical agility test in March. Of the 150 people who signed up to take the test, 68 showed up. Eleven people failed the physical agility test, and 17 failed the written test.
Candidates must pass a fitness test, which includes sit-ups, push-ups and running. A written exam is given for reading, writing and English proficiency. The county and Everett give tests about twice a year.
Departments also generally give polygraph tests, psychological evaluations and background checks, in which they interview former employers, co-workers, spouses and neighbors.
Smith said he doesn’t think there’s a shortage of people who want to become officers.
“The issue for me is that I have a diminished amount of qualified candidates,” said Smith, who is on the executive board for the state Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
He said he’s seeing more candidates who have recently used narcotics. He believes younger candidates grew up in an era in which illegal drugs were more prevalent.
“When we do find people, they can’t get past the backgrounds,” Urquhart said.
Police say the phenomenon has created a competitive market among police departments.
“We’re seeing lots of numbers come through and a lot of folks vying for good recruits,” said Cmdr. Ron Price, coordinator of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission’s basic law enforcement academy in Burien.
Class sizes at the academy have increased, and Price has added three additional classes.
“It could be that so many people are hiring right now,” he said. “I think were seeing the results of frozen or lost positions now being backfilled.”
Recruiting expands
Police departments are taking extensive steps to search out qualified applicants. Agencies recruit at job fairs, in national trade publications, on Web sites and at colleges.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office searches nationwide. Sheriff Rick Bart said his office has increased the money it spends on recruiting new deputies.
Last year, sheriff’s office recruiters traveled to Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and other states. The office targets markets with experienced officers where the local economy isn’t good or there are quality-of-life issues, Niebusch said.
Five out of 12 positions last year were filled with out-of-state applicants, Niebusch said.
Experienced officers are in demand, since they can save departments money in training. They also are usually ready to hit the streets in a few weeks rather than the 19 weeks required for a new recruit to finish the police academy.
Mau of the Lynnwood Police Department graduated from the academy in April. He will spend a few more weeks training with veteran officers before he goes out on his own.
He said he didn’t grow up wanting to be a police officer, but knew a desk job wasn’t for him. Police work is more difficult than he expected, but he believes what he’s doing is honorable.
“I didn’t want to just help, I wanted to do it in a specific way,” he said. “It’s really true – I want to protect and serve.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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