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By Leonor Vivanco, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Article Launched:04/22/2007 01:00:00 AM PDT
FONTANA - From freeway billboards and job fairs to the Web and the airwaves, they're trying to get your attention.
Various law-enforcement agencies are competing against one another for one hot commodity - new officers to fill their vacancies. It seems every police department is looking to hire officers.
Some police departments are getting more creative in attracting potential candidates to serve and protect.
The Fontana City Council on Tuesday evening will be asked to pay a marketing company, Epic Productions, $49,750 to design and produce DVDs, public-service announcements and pamphlets, and develop a Web site for the Police Department's recruiting program.
"What this marketing program is designed to do is create an interest in the Police Department," said Capt. Rodney Jones.
Recruiting new officers is a national problem, said Larry Gaines, chairman of Cal State San Bernardino's criminal justice department.
"All departments right now are having a great deal of difficulty in meeting their demands," he said.
With the unemployment rate fairly low, there are fewer people out there competing for jobs, reducing the applicant pool, he said.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police in December released a law-enforcement action agenda for Congress, asking lawmakers to establish and fund new programs and enhance others.
In its list of recommendations, the association said "it has become increasingly difficult to attract qualified personnel to law enforcement because of the higher compensation, more traditional work schedules, and less stressful working conditions available in other careers."
The association wants to see a new program modeled after the Troops to Teachers program to encourage military personnel to go into law enforcement after they leave the service.
Fontana, meanwhile, is trying to recruit people from the community, and city officials have allocated $60,000 in this year's budget to boost those efforts.
Of 194 sworn police-officer positions, there are 15 to 20 vacancies, Jones said. For every 100 applicants, the Police Department hires one or two officers after a rigorous screening process.
The Police Department will also begin targeting a younger age group, 16- to 20-year-olds. Previously, the emphasis was on 19- and 20-year-olds.
The reason for the change?
"We found that people either made life choices that are not acceptable to us ... or they had a good track record as far as life experience but they already decided what they want to do for the rest of their lives," Jones said.
One goal is to get more police explorers into the program starting at age 14, said Special Operations Officer Trish Coyle. That way, they can transition into cadets at age 18 and two years later be eligible to go to the academy.
"If we catch them early, then we can mold them into the officers that we want to have in the department," Coyle said.
Police officials have also met with faith-based organizations and talked to students at Chaffey College to recruit officers.
In addition to offering competitive salary and benefits, police departments use other tools to get the upper hand in recruiting.
Fontana police officers can get $500 for recruiting someone who gets hired. Officers can also take advantage of the city's Fontana Employee/Teacher Homeownership Program and get a loan that can later be forgiven and used to buy a home.
Fontana also has a good reputation, said Officer Casey Mutter, who was sworn in in March. "All I heard was nothing but good things, how respectable the department was," he said.
Being an officer was the career the 25-year-old had in mind since he was a kid.
"It's just the excitement and getting out and interacting with the public," he said.
Meanwhile, San Bernardino offers newly hired officers a $2,500 signing bonus and lateral officers $5,000. They also can get $2,000 in a relocation package if they are at least 90 miles away from the station.
The San Bernardino Police Department has 10 vacancies out of 330 officer positions, said Lt. Mark Garcia. He said the department is confident they can be filled by the end of the fiscal year.
San Bernardino has one billboard on Interstate 215, and another one is planned for Interstate 10. Ads air on two Inland Empire radio stations, and there's a Web site - www.joinsbpd.org.
Another selling point, Garcia said, is that San Bernardino is a "place that someone can come and make a difference in our city."
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Bull**** poly "lies." I've never touched a drug in my life...yet the poly says I have?!? 
Bad reference from an ******* ex-boyfriend/girlfriend. 
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