Norman Police Adjust To Officer Shortage

Police departments across the country are having trouble getting new recruits in their doors.  

“The days of having job fairs and people coming to us to seek employment have gone away,” said Major Brent Barbour with the Norman Police Department.  

He said these are the lowest recruitment numbers he’s seen in his career with the department.  

“Nationwide there is a shortage of officers with most every agency, we are not immune to that. This is the lowest we’ve been down during my tenure,” said Barbour.  

The Norman Police Department is going to community events and colleges to recruit applicants.    

“We are currently authorized to hire 180 commissioned positions which are police officers. Right now, we are down 28 of those positions,” he said.  

The change doesn’t come without growing pains, the department is shifting people around to make the shortage work.  

“Whether that is traffic enforcement, or some proactive activities, more investigate work or cases that would have been investigated in the past are not able to be. Those are the kind of decisions we have to make depending on where staffing is at,” said the Major.  

Usually, the department sees 10-15 recruits in every academy class, that number quickly dwindling.  

“We have five in our current academy that will fill some of those positions, but they don’t get out until February,” he said.  

NPD hopes benefits like tuition assistance and bilingual pay heighten interest.  

“We provide the equipment, we provide the training, it is a lengthy process, and you get paid while you are in that training,” said Barbour.  

The department is currently accepting applications through December 31st and the academy will start in June.