Police shootings not slowing recruiting in Phoenix-area
Jul 29, 2016, 5:33 AM | Updated: 11:28 am
PHOENIX — Valley police departments are not hurting for recruits, despite the recent shooting deaths of police officers in Louisiana and Texas.
Phoenix police officer Julio Cardenas is a recruiter for his department, and said at least 300 people take the written tests every month. However, not all of them stay.
“The way the numbers work out, for every hundred that show up to the written test, eight or ten will come out at the end as eligible candidates for hire,” Cardenas said.
Phoenix is trying to boost its ranks by 600 officers after a six-year hiring freeze.
The recruits that are making it are not frightened at the recent shootings, either.
Monica Fennel of Phoenix said that what happened in Baton Rouge and Dallas is a good reality check, but it isn’t deter her from wanting to be a cop.
“I don’t feel like backing down from it,” Fennel said. “It’s something to make me feel motivated, to get out there.”
Recruit Jamie Phillips of Phoenix said it’s hard sometimes to watch the news, but, “If you just do what you’re taught in the academy – do the right thing on the streets, regardless of how the news looks at it, or how society looks at it on the other side – you’re helping that person out. And that’s all that really matters.”
Other Valley departments, like Mesa and Chandler, are hiring as well.
