In anticipation of more population growth and a wave of retirements, the Village of Oswego is adopting multiple strategies to build a police department ready to serve its growing, diverse community.
Tuesday, Feb. 16, the Oswego Village Board approved a policy change that will allow more seasoned recruits to apply for positions at the Oswego Police Department. The policy change adds a lateral transfer program designed to attract applicants who already have worked as police officers in other communities.
Currently, most of the department’s hires are new recruits who must go through the 14-week police academy and become partners with more experienced officers before they can be on patrol on their own. A lateral transfer program would allow the Oswego Police Department to hire officers who already have several years of experience at other police departments, snd start them at higher salaries, but save on academy costs and get them out on patrol faster.
Nationally, police departments are facing an increasing shortage of police officers, with more than 63% of police departments surveyed in 2019 saying they had seen interest in available positions significantly drop. With a population that continues to grow, the challenge to recruit highly qualified, diverse, officers is even more acute. In Oswego, about 43% of the Village’s patrol officers, many of whom were hired during the population boom of the 1990s and early 2000s, are planning to retire within the next five years.
“By offering a lateral transfer program, we’re not only able to benefit from the experience that new officer brings to Oswego, we’re also able to better plan and avoid a shortage of officers in our department in the coming years,” Oswego Police Chief Jeff Burgner said. “We want to have as many tools available to us as possible to recruit the best quality candidates to serve our community.”
The policy change is just one tactic the Oswego Police Department is implementing to build up its staff of sworn officers. In early 2020, the department launched a research-based marketing campaign at opdrecruits.com to attract a stronger and more diverse candidate pool and encourage more women and people of color to apply.
Following the campaign, the number of women who took the police eligibility test increased by 49% over past recruitment figures, and the number of candidates who identified as belonging to a racial minority group increased by 38%.
The Department will continue to recruit entry-level officers on its same biennial testing schedule in addition to recruiting those more experience police officers hired through lateral transfers.
For more information on the Oswego Police Department, visit www.oswegoil.org/police. Applications are restricted to testing cycles, however, interested candidates can learn more about careers with the Oswego Police Department at OPDrecruits.com.
Residents, visitors, and business owners are encouraged to sign up for E-mail or text alerts from the Village at www.oswegoil.org/alerts for more news and announcements.
— Village of Oswego