Harrison Thorp 5:56 a.m.
Wednesday, April 20, 2022 5:55 am
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ROCHESTER - Getting the Rochester Police patrol division to full staff has been a struggle for a long time, but on Monday Chief Gary Boudreau said the department is closer to achieving its full complement than they have been in two years.
The resurgence in hiring activity was on full display a week ago as Boudreau welcomed three new officers who are now out on solo patrols for the department.
The three officers who recently graduated from the New Hampshire Police Academy include Officers Sarah Lazzar, Robert Burrell and Tomas Velasquez.
Boudreau said they have four more officers that are expected to be coming on board pending background checks.
Another five recruits are set to begin their employment between Monday and May 9.
"Those (five) individuals will be attending the basic police academy which starts in June for 16 weeks," Boudreau said.
While Boudreau, a native of Rochester, is cautiously optimistic about approaching a full patrol staff later this year, he said recruitment is and has been a constant struggle during his 24 years on the force.
"I have only seen very few occasions where we have been at full staff for any length of time," he said. "Police work is a very rewarding profession, but it is also a very difficult profession with the mental and physical demands of the job. For those reasons I feel we will always be recruiting potential officers."
Earlier this month RPD began offering a $10,000 signing bonus for certified police officers, and in February they held their first-ever job fair.
Boudreau said these new hiring tactics are necessary to ensure the city maintains a robust patrol capability.
"We have been very aggressive with our recruitment efforts both on social media and on employment websites which we have been very successful on attracting diverse candidates," he said.
The total budgeted amount for full-time certified police officers is 63. That numbers includes everyone from the chief on down.