Philadelphia police hope revamped recruitment process will help address staffing issues

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Police Department hopes to hire hundreds of new officers over the next year with the help of a revamped recruitment process. 

Commanding Officer of the Recruitment and Background Investigation Unit Captain John Walker called the need for more officers "dire" and touted the upward mobility the department offers. 

"We are in dire need right now we want to hire over 1,000 people over the next few years, and we want to hire diverse groups of people from all over," Walker told FOX 29's Kelly Rule. 

There are immediate areas where the city can improve, especially in neighborhoods that deal with less crime and some districts that offer a higher starting salary. 

"If you want to have daily interaction and a lot of opportunity, the chance of promotion in a big city where you have 1 year in rank and you can promote up is unheard of in smaller departments," Walker said.

The department's desperate need to find more officers isn't unique to only Philadelphia, cities across the country are also finding their police forces severely depleted. The biggest challenge seems to be trying to convince people to become police officers amid rampant gun violence and issues with community relations. 

In Philadelphia, the department is offering full benefits and a salary of almost $64k after six months in the academy. Walker says by the fifth year, an officer can climb to $86k, not including overtime.

"We want guardians, we want people who have good interpersonal skills, people who think differently, people who move differently, people who understand things differently," Walker said.

Around 60 officers will graduate from the academy over the next few months, including 30 in March.