Starting pay is up, but police agencies are still having a hard time filling open jobs

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The pay is up for local police officers and sheriff's deputies, but law enforcement agencies are still finding it difficult to fill open positions.

While the Evansville Police Department says daily operations have not been impacted, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said the county jail effectively operates at minimum staffing levels due to a lack of confinement officers.

The Indiana State Police face similar problems, too, according to recruiters, but the size and scope of state police operations have helped the agency attract new talent.

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We spoke to local law enforcement agencies to find out how they are weathering the difficult labor market and the contentious national conversation regarding the nature of police work. Here's what we found:

Evansville Police Department

The current labor market is a challenge for the Evansville Police Department, as it is for police across the United States, according to department spokeswoman Sgt. Anna Gray

It's harder to attract young, qualified job applicants, and fewer applicants than ever pass the mandatory tests and background checks, Gray said.

Sgt. Doug Schneider, who works in the Personnel & Training Unit, believes the Evansville Police Department is better positioned than other local agencies due to its size: It's the largest police department in Southwestern Indiana, and that means officers have opportunities for career advancement and specialization.

The EPD, which employs more than 280 sworn officers, lists its salary for a probationary officer in 2021 as $53,630, with educational bonuses available, as well as allowances for clothing and equipment after the first year. That's up 36 percent from 2018, when the probationary officer salary was $39,320.

"The end result is what I'm most concerned with," Schneider said. "Are we able to fill the vacancies that we're getting? We're finding a reasonable amount of success in that as opposed to our peers. But it's certainly becoming a challenging environment."

All prospective police officers in Indiana have to pass a series of physical and mental tests before they can don a police uniform. Schneider said the Evansville Police Department conducts these tests more frequently now to quicken the hiring process.

Aside from the general labor market conditions, Schneider also believes years of negative publicity for law enforcement have taken a toll on young people's interest in law enforcement careers.

"It's really made it a controversial profession, almost," Schneider said. "It doesn't feel the same as it did 10 or 15 years ago."

He stressed that some of that negative publicity is "deserved," but noted that videos of violent interactions between the public and law enforcement circulate on social media daily, and this impacts how the public views the profession.

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"I don't like the profession that I love and have done for 28 years to get a bad rap, but sometimes that bad rap is deserved," Schneider said.

Gray said she's conducted officer interviews for more than 10 years, and recently she's heard recruits say social media content spurred them to become a police officer in order to "change the image" of policing.

One strategy local departments are using to bolster ranks are incentives that encourage officers from other law enforcement agencies to transfer. While Schneider said this can be a powerful tool, he's reluctant to pull officers away from the smaller police departments near Evansville.

"They may only have 12 to 15 officers," Schneider said. "When we start taking officers from smaller communities, what are we doing to those smaller communities? They have police runs too."

Schneider, who said he plans to retire in the "near future," said he thinks the solution is to develop new talent among young people, such as college students and others entering the workforce.

"Procuring talent from other agencies isn't the answer," Schneider said.

Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office

Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said his office continues to face recruitment and retainment problems despite concerted efforts to attract new deputies and confinement officers.

The Vanderburgh County Sheriff's office has spent thousands of dollars on television, radio and social media ads promoting pay increases and benefits packages to prospective employees, according to Wedding.

Still, he said the Vanderburgh County Confinement Center faces chronic staffing shortages.

"The Evansville Police Department has had one of their highest years of turnover in a very long time, and they hired many of my jail officers to replace the vacant spots at EPD," Wedding said.

The sheriff blames several factors for the drop in new recruits, but highlighted increasingly negative attitudes toward law enforcement among young people.

Wedding also said fewer recruits than ever complete the hiring process due to disqualifying behavior, such as illicit drug use or previous criminal convictions.

"This year, we offered jobs to 15 potential jail officers and could only hire two," Wedding said. "We're just at our wits end."

Staffing shortages, particularly at the Vanderburgh County Confinement Center, mean officers often have to work mandatory overtime.

"We're working with what we consider a minimum staffing level instead of a maximum staffing level," Wedding said. "And anytime you're working around a dangerous institution, more is certainly better."

A probationary sheriff's deputy in Vanderburgh County makes $49,754, with an increase to $54,754 after a year of service. Like the EPD, the sheriff's office also gives allowanes for clothing and educational bonuses. Vanderburgh County employs 120 deputies.

Where do agencies go from here?

The recruiting woes aren't confined to the Evansville area. Departments across the United States face serious staffing problems. The U.S. military, which often competes with law enforcement agencies for recruits, is facing a steep decline in interest among high school and college students.

U.S. Army Recruiting Command said 2021 marked the "most challenging labor market since the inception of the all-volunteer force." More than 70% of U.S. high school graduates are now ineligible for military service due to obesity, drug use and mental and physical health problems.

Law enforcement agencies, which also typically rely on strict physical and mental aptitude tests, have made minor adjustments to testing requirements, but officials say there's little room to lower the overall standards.

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The maximum age at which a police officer in Indiana could enroll in the state pension plan increased from 35 years old to 39 in 2020. Testing schedules have been ramped up, too, because speedier timelines increase the number of overall hires.

Schneider said the law enforcement sector has yet chart a path to long-term, sustainable recruiting.

"If I had the vision to plan for the future like that, I'd be giving that explanation to every major department in the country," Schneider said. "It's going to be a tough environment."

Schneider believes higher pay for new officers is ultimately what's needed to make the profession attractive to young workers as civilian wages and salaries increase in response to the tight labor market.

Representatives for the Evansville Police Department said recruiters are trying to connect with a younger, more dynamic pool of talent through social media and new advertising and recruitment strategies. The department, like most of its peers, is working to tap an increasingly diverse workforce.

And, there are young, talented workers and college students who still dream of a career in law enforcement.

Sheila Denis, 22, studies criminal justice at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville. At a career fair in March, Denis stopped by the Indiana State Police booth to inquire about internship and job opportunities.

"I definitely want to do something criminal justice related," Denis said. "I'm not completely sure if I'm going to take a career as an officer, but it's something I'm certainly looking at.

"It's kind of a male-dominated profession, so I think it would be great for me to be able to diversify that a little bit."

Houston Harwood can be contacted at walter.harwood@courierpress.com with story ideas and questions. Twitter: @houston_whh | Instagram: @harwoodhouston

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville-area law enforcement struggle more than ever to recruit