LAPD Campaign to Draw Job Applicants Proposed

Seeking to address a hiring crisis that could jeopardize a federal grant, the Los Angeles Police Department is proposing a host of new programs aimed at attracting applicants to its ranks.

In a report Monday to the council’s Public Safety Committee, Chief Bernard C. Parks said the department’s applicant pool has declined over the last three years and that dramatic drops are continuing. From 1995-98, applications declined by almost half, from a high of 1,217 to a low of 631.

During the first six months of 1999, the report said, the number of candidates taking the written test dropped by almost 150 per month.

It is an alarming trend, requiring innovative and expedient measures to turn around, Parks said in the report.

Among the LAPD’s advertising proposals, which will probably be discussed by the committee in a couple of weeks, are these:

* Putting up billboards and banners around the city;

* Sending inserts in bills from the city’s Department of Water and Power;

* Creating bumper stickers that could be placed on city vehicles;

* Seeking more free radio time for a public service announcement developed by the department.

The LAPD also is considering more out-of-town recruiting trips, bonuses to city employees who successfully recruit officers and relocation assistance for officers who relocate from more than 150 miles away.

The LAPD’s hiring crisis mirrors a nationwide trend, one that is widely blamed on an improved economy and a low unemployment rate. Agencies up and down the state report similar hiring problems, with the California Highway Patrol reporting that applications have dropped 40% from 1995 to 1998.

The city has an $8.2-million federal grant to hire 157 more officers this year but first it has to maintain a level of 9,771 officers. As of last month, the department had 9,518 officers.