Ohio introduces ‘one-stop shop’ to help police recruit and retain officers

The new tool was unveiled Tuesday at an event in Vandalia with Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted and state and local police officials.

When surveying sheriffs and police chiefs in 2021 and 2022, law enforcement’s biggest concern was their ability – or inability – to recruit and retain new talent, said Andy Wilson, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

In addition, many smaller departments lack sufficient staff to hire dedicated recruiters who could solve this problem, Wilson says.

The website is designed to reduce the workload for local and smaller departments in recruiting and retaining officers and “actually help applicants better understand and prepare for a career in law enforcement,” Wilson said.

The OhioMeansJobs website is a one-stop shop for applicants and Ohio police departments looking to hire them, Wilson said. Applicants can search for jobs by city, agency or geographic region and access application tips and other resources for becoming a police officer.

“It gives people a website to search for jobs instead of going to individual departments and searching their websites,” said Vandalia Police Chief Kurt Althouse. “We’re always looking for people locally, but also from other places or from other states who want to work here.”

The number of applicants for police jobs has declined over the past 20 years, and at the same time, many police officers have decided to retire or leave the profession altogether, taking with them a wealth of intergenerational and institutional wisdom, Althouse says.

“A lot of institutional knowledge, a lot of experience and training has been invested in this person,” he said. “And that’s why we’re constantly looking for new, energetic, motivated young people who want to take on these roles.”

Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said his department has well over 500 employees and the number of vacancies is “larger than most other police departments,” making the site a very welcome tool.

“Our community is overwhelmingly supportive of local law enforcement. I understand that’s not the case everywhere. But everyone in this room gets support from their community for the most part,” Streck said. “Even though some would like to think so, as people have said, this is still a very honorable profession. It’s a necessary profession.”

“I believe that serving in the military and serving as a law enforcement officer are some of the noblest things a person can do,” Husted said. “Because in those professions, they potentially sacrifice their own lives to protect others. They are willing to make those kinds of sacrifices every day.”

“From an economic development perspective … if you want to have a prosperous community, you need the men and women of law enforcement to protect your community and send a message to criminals: Go somewhere else,” Husted added.