Federal funds help police pay for new officers, when they can find them

WASHINGTON — Salinas, Calif., Police Chief Kelly J. McMillin is sitting on $3.4 million in Community Oriented Policing Services grant money to pay for school resource officers but fears the department may lose the money if it can’t attract recruits.

Authorized to have 174 officers, Salinas had 131 last week. To recruit more officers, it has eased its prohibition on prior marijuana use by job prospects from three years to one year, raised the time allowed to run an agility test and waived the $100 fee for testing. Still, current staff must work 15-hour days at least twice a week.

“That’s opened up access to otherwise good applicants that other departments have turned away,” he said of the marijuana policy. “But even if we had 174, we’re still massively understaffed.”

Departments around the country are finding it difficult to recruit and retain police officers, with Chicago announcing this week it plans to hire 970 officers the next two years.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/federal-funds-help-police-pay-for-new-officers-when-they-can-find-them/ar-BBwAvbV