When Michigan native Matt Owczarek, 23, graduated from college and began looking for a job as a police officer, he became interested in the Rapid City Police Department because of his impression of the community and the department's quick response to his application.
"I like how Rapid City presented itself," Owczarek said.
Those factors are helping Rapid City find quality officers despite declining numbers of people applying for police jobs here and throughout the nation, according to a Rapid City Police Department spokesman.
Jeff Church of Reno, Nev., said police departments nationwide need to address the common factors new recruits look for when job searching because there is a shortage of people going into law enforcement careers.
"There are just more openings than there are warm bodies," said Church, who is a retired law enforcement officer who now owns and operates Diversity Recruiting Specialists, a company that researches and consults on law enforcement recruiting.
Church said departments should promote their community based on the positive aspects. Cities the size of Rapid City might not be able to offer the salary that a larger city can, but there are other selling points, he said.
A new officer with the Rapid City Police Department makes about $17.50 an hour.
Church said promoting the quality of life and family-type atmosphere would be Rapid City's best bet in bringing young law enforcement officers to the area.
Owczarek started at the Rapid City Police Department a little more than a year ago.
He learned about the job opening when Rapid City Police officer Ryan McCandless, also from Michigan, made a recruitment visit to Michigan State University in East Lansing, when Owczarek was a senior there.
"I talked to him about it and just kind of put it in the back of my mind," Owczarek said. "Since he's from Michigan, too, it was especially nice to talk about Rapid City from his point of view."
Rapid City Police Department Capt. Doug Thrash said the number of applications is down, but Rapid City has still managed to hire quality officers.
Thrash said that when he began at the department 15 years ago, it was common to get 200 applications for seven job openings.
"Now, if we get 35 people to apply, that's normal," he said. "It makes it hard for us to get quality applicants."
Thrash said having a smaller number of applicants is no excuse to compromise quality.
"We would rather be short people than have unqualified people working here," he said.
Thrash said the department does not have full-time recruiters, but many officers and other employees help with the process.
He said officers often will return to their hometown or college to promote the department, like McCandless did.
Police departments in cities such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles have marketing agencies with the sole purpose of recruiting new officers.
Still, Thrash said, larger cities have more difficulty than Rapid City.
"Bigger cities have bigger problems because they have so many more positions to fill," he said.
Church said one mistake many departments make is taking too much time in the hiring process. He said the Reno Police Department, where he used to work, made that mistake.
"In the time we took to process them, they were already deputies or state troopers or police officers elsewhere," Church said.
Owczarek said that is a major issue for people who have recently graduated from college and are looking for a job.
"If you're really looking for a job, you have to accept a position when you get an offer," Owczarek said.
Waiting for months for an agency to respond to an application is not an option for many job hunters.
Thrash said the key is to find a balance between getting new recruits through the testing process in a timely manner and being thorough in background checks and decision-making.
"There are a lot of agencies that go out of their way to make the application process difficult, and they should be making it easier," Church said.
Church said he has seen departments make job seekers complete 20-page applications simply to get their foot in the door. "A lot of people just aren't going to fill those out," he said.
Owczarek said he was allowed to do his written exam and physical exam during one visit to Rapid City, which made the process more convenient for him.
"Their response time was great," he said. "I had put out applications in other places, and Rapid City was the first to get back to me."
Thrash said the hiring process at the Rapid City Police Department involves an application, written exam, physical exam and extensive background check. Once hired, a new officer must attend three months of training at the South Dakota Law Enforcement Academy in Pierre.
New officers then return to Rapid City and go on patrol with experienced officers for several more weeks before going out on their own.
Thrash said the Rapid City Police Department hired nine new officers last summer. They are now completing training in Pierre.
After they are qualified to work on their own, the department will be close to fully staffed, Thrash said.
The department employs slightly more than 100 sworn officers.
Church said another problem departments have with hiring new officers is that many do not meet the requirements during the background check because they have used drugs.
Each department establishes its own guidelines on drug history restrictions, but Church said background investigations turn up information that makes many applicants ineligible.
"Another problem with the early 20s age group is that so many are out of shape physically," Church said.
Church said many young people avoid choosing law enforcement careers because of the strange hours and dangerous work and because they have other higher-paying options.
Church said his No. 1 recommendation to departments looking to nab quality law enforcement recruits before another agency does is to expedite the hiring process so they can get through testing and start work.
"Make the process efficient, and make it friendly, with knowledgeable recruiters," Church said.
Contact Katie Brown at 394-8318 or katie.brown@rapidcityjournal.com
