Despite months of severe staffing shortages at the Hollister
Police Department, police are still having trouble filling
much-needed positions due to a shortage of qualified
applicants.
Hollister – Despite months of severe staffing shortages at the Hollister Police Department, police are still having trouble filling much-needed positions due to a shortage of qualified applicants.
Rigorous standards are making it harder and harder to find good cops, according to Police Chief Jeff Miller.
“It’s pretty much endemic to most law enforcement agencies these days,” Miller said. “You still have a standard people have to meet to be peace officers in California, and you run into people who because of indiscretions in their youth or things they’ve been involved in don’t meet our standards.”
The department’s full staffing level is 32 sworn officers, and 30 able-bodied police officers are currently available for patrol, Miller said. If two new hires are made with staffing levels where they are now, the department would be at full complement for the first time in years, Miller said.
The staff shortage has required officers to work 12- and 13-hour days, often back-to-back, for months. While new recruits ostensibly hear about the long hours and excruciating schedule Hollister cops have to deal with, there are several factors that contribute to an ever-shrinking candidate pool, Miller said.
These include not being able to afford a home on a starting officer’s salary; competing with larger Bay Area departments that can pay officers more; and less opportunity for advancement and special assignments. All factor into Hollister’s hiring conundrum, Miller said.
Miller said he would like to be able to pay a hand-picked candidate to attend the police academy on the condition that he or she commit to staying in Hollister for some length of time. But that would take money – Miller estimated between $15,000 to $20,000 per trainee.
“We’re looking for people who want to be in Hollister,” Miller said. “But once we get the staffing, our budget grows and we add more to the department, we will be a very attractive department. We just have to ride out this tough time.”
The department is accepting applications from any current police officers, anyone who has attended the police academy or is currently enrolled, according to spokesman George Ramirez. There is no deadline to apply.
For more information contact the Hollister Police Department at (831) 636-4330.
