NCJ Number
191123
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 68 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2001 Pages: 50-52
Date Published
September 2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article examines the use of television commercials to attract new police officers.
Abstract
Like most States across the Nation, Connecticut has for several years had trouble finding qualified applicants for the State's many police department openings. In 2000, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) sponsored the making of a 30-second police recruitment commercial. The commercial is aimed in part at high school students who, even though currently too young to join the force, will go on to college and earn a degree. It also targets older individuals looking to make a career change and persons who may never have thought about law enforcement as a career. The commercial will be run on Hartford television 94 times in various time slots during several months. The CPCA office will maintain 24 cable-ready tapes of the commercial that may be personalized by departments and run on their community access channel. Some departments have purchased continuous loop tapes to be used at school career days and job fairs, and each department will receive its own copy of the commercial.