Cleveland Police Academy Recruiting Course

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Police Department has been experimenting with new ways to expand its ranks, and those efforts appear to be working. The largest cohort of recruits in years is in training for deployment in the troops.

Jeremy Medina said he always wanted to be a police officer in Cleveland.

“I was on duty, I was in the army, so they prepared me. I was ready for it,” he said.

Although he is in his 40s, that dream will soon become a reality thanks to recent changes to how the department recruits new officers.

“I am 47 years old. Since the age was changed, I was able to log in. I always wanted to do it but never had the opportunity because I didn’t meet the age requirement and when I found out the city increased the age group and here I am,” he said.

The city urgently needs officers. The department has tried to fill more than 300 open positions this year. They have offered incentives and changed the way they recruit, such as holding large hiring events that speed up the application process.

Felton Collier is a recruiter and says making the application process as quick and easy as possible works.

“Last year, in December, we organized our first recruitment event. We made it possible for applicants to come in and virtually complete multiple parts of the process in one day. So they were allowed to come down, submit applications, take the test, take the physical fitness test, have them fingerprinted, take photos and, you know, several steps,” he said.

Of the 300 recruits who attended the weekend’s event, 256 were provisionally qualified for officer positions and 52 recruits made it into the academy.

Medina said the process was both challenging and smooth.

“I actually attended the quick-hire event they held downtown. I was there on Friday and when I left I had a letter of recommendation. “It happened quickly,” he said.

But fast doesn’t mean easy.

“Fighting techniques, hand-to-hand, floor exercises and then we completed the training where we had to run up the stairs,” he said.

But Medina said the hard work will be worth it when he can finally achieve his dream of serving and protecting the city of Cleveland.