SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — The sun is shining, the waves are rolling and hundreds of people are enjoying the nice weather. It’s an ideal day for the Oceanside Police Department to advertise its city.
"It's stunning, it's a beautiful city." said Oceanside PD Public Information Officer, Jennifer Atenza. "The bonus is our community is so supportive. People are friendly. They walk by and say hello."
Atenza and a production crew have been shooting a recruitment video for the police department all morning. Current officers, giving their pitch to interested candidates of why they should come work in the city of Oceanside.
The reason for the high production video, is that Oceanside PD, like many other industries throughout the country, is facing a shortage of qualified applicants.
Right now, the department is looking to hire several officers, dispatchers and record technicians.
The short-staffed station isn’t alone in it’s hiring woes. For years police departments all over the country have been struggling to hire and retain officers.
In a survey of 194 departments, the Police Executive Research Forum found between 2019-2021, departments saw on average of a 5% decrease in hiring, 18% increase in resignations and a whopping 45% increase in retirements.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police points to generational differences in new recruits, negative public image of police officers and rigorous background checks as reasons why many departments are having trouble hiring.
"It's a challenging career path," said Atenza. "The challenges that come along with being a police officer in 2022 are very different than 10-20 years ago. So we have officers that are new to the profession that are dealing with public scrutiny, new technologies, new laws and regulations."
The Oceanside PD recruitment video will be posted on their YouTube channel early next month.
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