The Prince George’s County Police Department is holding a hiring blitz this weekend, hoping to cut what can be a monthslong hiring process in half.
Police Chief George Nader told WTOP that it can take up to six months to hire an officer. By packing several tests and an interview into a one-day event, he’s hoping to make police department hiring a two- or three-month process.
Registration for this Saturday’s event is already full, but Nader said participants can still get a spot on the standby list.
He also said he doesn’t think everyone who registered will show up, and even if they do, he has a lot of openings to fill.
“People that have preregistered, they’ll get here at 7 a.m.,” Nader said. “We’re going to do multiple phases of the hiring process, which typically takes a month or so. We’re going to do it all in one day.”
That includes the written and physical tests, plus the initial interview and prequestionnaire.
What happens if you pass all that?
“You’re going to walk away with the conditional offer of employment, and we’re going to immediately start your background” check, Nader said.
“One of the main priorities we have here is to increase our hiring,” he added. “I want to hire 150 officers a year at a minimum. So part of that is to increase the process and make it a better experience.”
Right now the department is averaging between seven and eight retirements a month. By having three academy classes with at least 50 officers in each, he said he thinks he can stay on top of those retirements, and also grow the size of the force again.
“If we keep this up, within three years, we’ll be at full staffing,” Nader said.
Online registration, including the standby list, can be found here.
“If you show up at 7 o’clock, we’ll put you in a standby mode,” Nader said. “I don’t want to discourage people from coming out, because even if they come out, there’s still likelihood that they’ll be able to participate in the event, and at a bare minimum, they’ll be able to apply and start that process.”
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