Police Agencies Seeing Recruitment Trouble

berriensheriff-19
berriensheriff-19

Police agencies around the nation and in Michigan have been experiencing trouble with recruitment the last couple of years. Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey tells WSJM News he sees departments all over that are hearing from fewer applicants.

“There are less people wanting to get into law enforcement,” Bailey said. “I think it has a lot to do with what’s going on across the country and the things that have happened in a lot of our bigger cities. It’s caused heartbreak for everybody recruiting-wise.”

Bailey says the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department is doing OK for now.

“We’re fully staffed, but we have openings coming up, we have more retirements coming up. In the next year, we have six or seven people leaving. It concerns me just because we’re not getting the applicants that we used to.”

Bailey says he knows local departments including Benton Harbor and Benton Township have openings. He says to be a police officer, you do need to have the drive to help others and sometimes face risks in the process. He’s hoping more can be done to attract people to the profession. Anyone interested in a career in law enforcement can reach out to their local department about reserve programs. Bailey says the best course is to pursue a degree in law enforcement either at a four-year university or junior college.