Warwick PD applicants on the rise; ‘Live PD’ likely helped attract candidates
By Alana Cerrone
@Alana_Cerrone
WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) – Wrapping up its latest recruitment drive, Warwick Police got more applicants than they expected.
"It’s been trending downward with the current climate right now with law enforcement – we knew the trend was on a downward spiral so we set our target number at 200," said Captain Michael Gilbert.
In all, 273 people applied. That’s about twenty more than applied last time. By the time the department weeds out unqualified candidates during the rest of the application process, that number will likely fall to about 75.
"The need for police officers throughout the whole state… we’re competing for the same pool of qualified candidates," Captain Gilbert added.
But who wouldn’t want to work for the famed agency on A&E’s TV show ‘Live PD’?
Police say that publicity has helped attract potential recruits.
"We had a few people that said they saw us on ‘Live PD’, and that sparked their interest in our department. They saw that [we] were hiring, went onto the website policeapp.com and filled out an application because of that," said Officer Gary Driscoll.
Last month, policeapp.com held a first-of-its-kind recruitment webinar with Warwick Police.
"We’ve got applicants from Washington state, Florida, Texas…which is something we’ve never really had before," Driscoll added.
Compared to some smaller police departments, 273 applicants is a lot. Central Falls got 45 applications in its last recruitment. Only 7 met the eligibility requirements.
At least for now, Warwick’s efforts are working to stay ahead of the curve of a recruitment shortage. Captain Gilbert said going back 5 – 10 years in the department’s history, they would get upwards of 750 applicants during a hiring process.
©WLNE-TV 2018
