Police Force Makes Its Pitch to Hire 100 New Officers : Law Enforcement: The City Council has decided to keep the department. Plans call for expanding its size by the time the Sheriff’s Department contract expires next summer.

The Long Beach Police Department is the topic on Spanish-language radio shows, in Korean-language newspapers and, very soon, it will be on television.

What’s all the hoopla about? The department has jobs.

At a time when a growing number of people are finding themselves in the unemployment line, the Long Beach Police Department plans to hire about 100 officers. And officials are making no secret of it.

They advertise in community newspapers, appear on radio programs and recruit just about anywhere they can pitch their new portable display depicting officers in action.

As part of an intensive recruitment effort kicked off two weeks ago, the department has even established a toll-free number, (800) 934-LBPD, where a female voice urges callers to “Join the Long Beach team. Apply today.”

About 700 men and women have answered the call in the last two weeks, and 2,100 altogether have applied since March, said Roberto Uranga, the city’s recruitment officer.

Although the department starts with a large number of candidates, the figure is quickly reduced. At least 40% of the applicants drop out before the first step: a written exam. Of those who take the test, about 70% pass it, Uranga said.

Hundreds will take the exam Wednesday and compete for about 50 spots. Recruiters then need to find another 1,000 applicants for a Sept. 26 test to fill a second batch of 50 vacancies, Uranga said.

By the end of this year, the Police Department hopes to have 100 qualified recruits ready to begin the academy early next year, Uranga said.

The Police Department is hiring officers to replace the 48 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies now patrolling the north and northeastern parts of town. The city’s contract with the Sheriff’s Department will end next summer. Long Beach police also will fill a number of spots expected to open due to retirements and leaves of absence, officials said.

To fill those vacancies, Uranga and Officer Maria Luisa Mendez began recruiting in March. But two weeks ago, they were joined by four other officers and “now we’re trying to leave no stone unturned,” Uranga said.

The recruiters go to community colleges, military bases and community events, such as the Long Beach Jazz Festival, rodeos and chili cook-offs, to pass out business cards.

“We have a small budget so we’re trying to be creative. That’s why we opened an 800 number and printed business cards,” Uranga said. “(And) that’s why the emphasis of our recruitment is personal contact.”

The week-old 800 number has fielded about 150 inquiries, Uranga said. City and police officials have also made a television commercial they plan to ask stations to run as a public service announcement. And the department’s advertisements have run in a myriad of newspapers, with emphasis on publications that circulate in minority communities.

“We continue to put our major emphasis on women and minorities,” Uranga said, noting that about half of the new applicants fall into those categories. “The department is still about 80% white male, and you need . . . a police force representative of the community.”

The sagging economy apparently has helped the recruitment drive, increasing not only the number of applicants but the number of interested people who have college degrees, Uranga said.

Controversies involving the department in recent years, including the firing of Chief Lawrence L. Binkley in January, have not affected the drive, according to Uranga and Mendez. And problems between law enforcement agencies and minorities are rarely brought up by those who stop to chat with recruiters, they said.

Some applicants were more concerned that the department would be eliminated in favor of contracting all police services with the Sheriff’s Department. But with the City Council’s recent decision to stick by the Police Department, applicants are no longer worried that their jobs would be endangered, Uranga said.

Instead, recruiters said that prospective rookies tend to ask more questions about whether they can pass the written exam, interviews, background check, personal financial review, physical agility test and polygraph before being admitted to the 20-week course at the Long Beach Police Academy.

“They worry about their background. Everybody has skeletons in their closet. We tell them to be truthful. Our community has to be able to trust you,” Mendez said.

Women also worry about their physical fitness, she said. “I tell them, ‘You’re not going to get any breaks. Start getting in shape.’ ”

Mendez, 37, joined the Long Beach force two years ago after working as an office manager in a church in Wilmington. “I wanted to help people in need,” Mendez said.

Uranga said the department is looking for men and women who “have a desire to serve the community, have good verbal skills . . . (and) a command presence.”

The job pays $2,776 to $3,437 a month, comes with two weeks vacation, 13 paid holidays and retirement and medical benefits.

And if that pitch is not enough, Uranga said, he tries to sell applicants on the location. “We tell them it’s by the beach,” he said. “We have beautiful weather here all the time.”