Of the 130 police officer positions in Temple, all 130 are filled, said Officer Mike Wilcox of the Temple Police Department, which brings up the question of where the officer shortages are.
“If you look at us on paper, there’s not,” Chief Gary Smith of the Temple Police Department said. “In reality, we are actually down about 14.”
These 14 positions have been filled, but the recruits must undergo nine months of training at the Temple Police Academy, which means they won’t be commissioned officers until 2008.
“Ten percent of our employees are not able to do the job because they are not trained to that level yet,” Smith said, adding that the department could use more officers, but isn’t sure of the ideal number.
“There is no perfect formula,” Smith said.
Small towns like Holland know the pangs of shorthanded law enforcement.
In Holland, the police department has one full-time officer, along with three non-paid reserve officers.
“There has been one full-time officer for at least the last 15 years,” Kathleen Vrana, Holland city administrator, said. “And probably before that.”
In a town of 1,100 people, Holland’s officers are jacks of all trades, occasionally working more than 40-hour weeks.
“There’s not a difference between an officer and an investigator,” Vrana said. “They have to do it all.
“It’s the whole town they are worrying about.”
But Sgt. Patrick Boone of the Killeen Police Department scoffed at the notion of a shortage among their applicants, despite tempting potential applicants with a $3,000 sign-on bonus.
Killeen has 186 commissioned officers in the department with 208 budgeted slots.
“We plan to fill most of the vacancies through the July academy,” Boone said. Plus, the 186 active officers are more than the department has ever had, he said.
Because of Killeen’s growing population, Boone expects more vacancies by the fall because of new positions but he sees nothing to sweat about.
Even though Boone remained firm about zero shortages in the Killeen Police Department, it raises the question of the need for a sign-on bonus.
While the Temple Police Department also offers a $3,000 sign-on bonus, Smith sees them as a downfall for departments statewide.
“We try to make it financially feasible,” Smith said. “But you do get caught up in the endless game of trying to sparkle more than your neighbor.”
“It’s a very competitive thing right now,” he added. “We are competing for the same people.”
And Smith said he believes that competition isn’t always over the most interested applicants though.
“Public service isn’t as sparkling to people as it was in the past,” Smith said. “I used to really embrace sacrifice. I loved it when things were at their worst.”
Smith said he was with a group of officers that would do anything for one another and stay strong through “thick and thin.”
“That’s the kind of people we want to be hiring,” Smith said. “They understand it and respect it.”
But those people are few and far between in the eyes of Smith and the rest of the department.
“The pool of applicants is shrinking,” Wilcox said. “The number of highly qualified applicants is even smaller.”
When sign-up for the civil service exam rolled around, Smith was happy to see about 200 names on the list. However, attest time about half showed up for the exam. Of that total, 53 passed the exam. From that slim pool, the department hired eight recruits.
“The people applying are not really interested in policing as a career,” Smith said. “They are curious about policing as a career.”
Even with a shortage of applicants, Central Texas police departments refuse to loosen their standards.
“We can’t just loosen up and take anybody,” Boone said.
Temple shares a common perspective.
“It’s a terrible mistake for people to lower standards,” Smith said. “I would rather work shorthanded than hire anybody that we have questions about.”
Whether or not police departments are relaxing their standards, the applicant process is still not for the fainthearted.
During the application process, candidates must pass a 100-question civil service exam with a grade of 70 percent or more. After that, they must pass a physical agility test including timed pushups, sit-ups and bounding over 6-foot walls. Applicants must also prove themselves capable of speaking professionally during an oral board presentation. Along with a complete physical and drug screening, a visit to a psychiatrist is mandatory for potential officers.
“It’s not all meat grinder, but it is intense,” Smith said. “You’re looking for reasons to disqualify people.”
“Trust is at stake,” he added. “We can’t risk that.”
But for some departments, it doesn’t appear to be a lack of qualified candidates that is the issue. It falls under the lack of funding from the city.
While Belton fares a bit better than smaller cities in the area with its 29 officers, the Belton Police Department suffers from its city budgets.
Up until a salary hike in January, the Belton Police Department fell below the curve. But the new starting salary of $35,800 balances the department with Temple and Killeen a bit more.
Before the jump in salaries, the department was anticipating turnover. Now, Cmdr. Michael Rhoden of the Belton Police Department said he believes the department has secured the majority of its 29 officers.
“That boosted retainability greatly,” Rhoden said. “I don’t even know anybody right now that is thinking about leaving.”
But Rhoden said the department could use more officers.
“We’d like as many as we could get,” Rhoden said. “Every year that we do the budget process, we ask for more officers.”
The department was given permission to add another officer last year, and Belton police hope to add another this year.
Because of a lack of funds, the department can’t offer any sign-on bonuses to lure new recruits from bigger cities, Rhoden said.
And Holland can relate.
However, when officers come to small towns like Holland, it’s not for the salary, Vrana said. It’s for the experience.
“You get a wider range of experience,” Vrana said. “They may not be here for 100 years, but they gain experience when they don’t have much.”
With shortages across Central Texas, Smith said the department is always willing to help cities in need of backup.
“We share a lot of things, not just a common border,” he said.
lfrase@temple-telegram.com
