ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 15, 1997 TAG: 9701150038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
ONLY ABOUT 1 IN 20 Roanoke police applicants is deemed "qualified" after passing through the department's hiring process.
The Roanoke City Police Department is down eight officers and can't fill the $24,162-a-year positions because "nobody wants the jobs," according to a top department official.
Recruiting officers has become so difficult that the city recently assigned one veteran officer as a full-time recruiter.
The pool of qualified minorities for police jobs has virtually "dried up," said Maj. Robert Helm, who heads the department's services division. Meanwhile, potential applicants are failing a required polygraph test "by leaps and bounds," a city personnel administrator said.
The subject arose at a capital improvements public hearing Monday, when a resident asked whether the department was short of officers.
"I cannot even hire eight officers I have openings for," responded Helm, who was there to lobby for new department buildings. "I have no applicants. Nobody wants the jobs."
City Council has authorized 258 officers, including 10 trainees who are used to maintain a full deployment of 248 sworn officers. Only 238 are deployed now. Another 11 will hit the streets after graduation from a training academy next month.
Nine vacancies will remain after the 11 new officers graduate. Helm said he has one remaining applicant who looks "hirable." Others are in various stages of investigation.
Although crime-fighting on the street has remained a priority, "I can't sit here and tell you it doesn't have an effect," he said. "We have 11 recruits in training right now. So the net effect is we're down 20. We're doing a balancing act."
Those numbers concern City Council members. "I didn't realize we had that many vacant slots," Councilman William White said. "That's a big percentage of vacancies. Those are critical positions. We don't want to be undermanned."
"I'm concerned about it," Councilman Carroll Swain said. "I can understand why people are reluctant to become police officers. One reason is the pay.''
Although the city pays slightly higher starting salaries than Roanoke County or Salem for police officers - $24,162 vs. $23,450 in the county and $23,712, in Salem - there's a big difference in the level of crime.
Neither the county nor Salem, which have much smaller police forces, is having trouble recruiting new hires, police in those jurisdictions say.
Only about 1 in 20 city police applicants is deemed "qualified" after passing through the department's hiring process, Helm said. It includes a written test, criminal background check, an interview by a panel of officers, a physical agility test - and, since two years ago, a polygraph test.
"The polygraph has really wiped out a lot of good potential candidates," said Jim Beatty, an employment administrator in the city personnel office. "They're failing it in leaps and bounds. It really is kicking our butt."
Recruits taking the polygraph test are asked about prior drug and alcohol use, sex with children under age 14 and crimes such as theft, among other questions.
Beatty has traveled to military bases in Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Northern Virginia and Tennessee seeking recruits. "Surprisingly, even a lot of the young men who get out of the military don't have backgrounds that will make them good police officers," Beatty said.
Helm says the public's perception of police officers also hurts recruiting. Highly publicized incidents such as the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles have increased the public's distrust of police.
In addition, the department is cramped in its facilities. A consultant's study the city is preparing to unveil estimates that police have only half the office space they need, while the condition of existing police buildings is poor. That can dissuade potential applicants because they see it as "a reflection of the city's commitment to the Police Department," Helm said.
Finally, the current 2.6 percent unemployment rate in the Roanoke metropolitan area has affected recruiting, Beatty said. The days of the early 1990s, when departments nationwide saw a bumper crop of qualified applicants after the Persian Gulf War, are past.
"The economy has gotten much better, and as a result we're having problems attracting women, minorities and even non-minorities to our department," Beatty said. "It's a hard sell. Chesterfield County, Henrico County, Alexandria, Baltimore, a lot of these localities are going through the same problems we're going through."
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON STAFF. Police officer W. E. Latham chatsby CNBwith Natalie Carr, 10, in downtown Roanoke Tu4esday. Officials say
the department is understaffed and they can't find qualified
applicants. The polygraph test appears to be a stumbling block for
many applicants. color.