Nearly $1M officer recruitment campaign underway in Minneapolis amid drop in applicants
Down hundreds of police officers while seeing a dip in the number of officer applicants, the city of Minneapolis is investing nearly $1 million in a recruitment campaign.
Set to roll out in early 2024, the campaign is still getting orchestrated with a big focus on a recruitment video.
“We’ve got to put our money where our mouth is,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
On top of the video, the campaign will include direct mail, emails, text messages and social media posts.
“One of the biggest pieces is letting people know that one, we got jobs available. Two, they’re really good jobs that are going to pay well with opportunities for advancement promotion and you can develop a skill set here with extraordinary professionals,” Frey said.
RELATED: MPD chief on canceled training academy, delayed hires: ‘I take ownership of that’
The $950,000 campaign is being run by Accenture and could include up to $28,500 in travel expenses. It comes at a time when the department is not only down hundreds of officers but also facing a decline in the number of people applying to become an officer.
Following a steady increase in applicants, city data from Nov. 30 shows there will be around 200 fewer applicants this year.
2021: 700
2022: 861
2023: 594
Chief Brian O’Hara said he’s very concerned about the future.
“If nothing changes, if we don’t get serious and invest in this problem, I’m very concerned about what could happen next,” MPD Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.
O’Hara, pointed to a dwindling pool of people going to school to become police officers as a reason for the decline.
RELATED: Police departments closing in rural Minnesota amid challenges with recruitment, retainment
“Ask any police chief, any police department in the state, they’ll tell you. If you ask the folks who run these programs, they’ll say, ‘Yeah, there’s not nearly enough students in these programs this year,’” O’Hara added.
He also feels the reality of the federal and state oversight is having an impact. But he and the mayor feel those changes will be an advantage.
“The level of support that we’re going to be given to these officers coming on is going to be a full-fledged change and how we’ve traditionally done business,” Frey said.
MPD says over the last few years, fewer than 10% of applicants made it on the force.