East Texas law enforcement agencies still facing staff shortages - KTRE
GREGG COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - Several East Texas law enforcement agencies find themselves again in familiar territory, shorthanded.
Applicants are hard to come by and agencies find themselves competing with one another for dedicated officers.
Between the pandemic and other variables, agencies like the Gregg and Smith county sheriff’s offices, and smaller police departments are still understaffed and looking for applicants.
“We’re one of those agencies. Today we have 45 positions open out of 264. As we got into the pandemic it became more difficult to hire and retain staff members in the jail as covid got in the jail people didn’t want to work in the jail any more,” said Gregg County Sheriff Maxey Cerliano.
“We’re three officers down, which is probably 25 percent of our force,” said White Oak police chief Terry Roach.
In times past it was hard to get a law enforcement job.
“I was a reserve officer for three years before just one opening came up in the police department. Then, one opening and you might have 300 applicants. Now it’s three openings and no applicants,” Roach says.
Essential to getting those dedicated men and women into uniform is police academies.
Academies are the staple of recruiting for agencies, but fewer candidates are showing up.
“The pool is so small that we’re all trying to hire from the same pool. And we’re unable to get our numbers up,” Cerliano says.
Cerliano is stressing the importance of the work to recruit applicants.
“It’s a very fulfilling profession to know that you do have the ability to sometimes intervene, to sometimes help people, that really have no where else to turn,” the sheriff says.
“You’re out here helping people, day in and day out. You have to have the manpower to do that,” Roach says.
In the departments we checked with, starting pay ranges vary anywhere from the low 30s to 40 thousand dollar range. Most have raised starting pay to attract more applicants.
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source: https://www.ktre.com/2022/02/18/webxtra-east-texas-law-enforcement-agencies-still-facing-staff-shortages/
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