The Tucson Police Department hopes to hire 50 to 100 new officers by the end of 2012.
"The thing we look for most in our candidates is people with high levels of integrity," said Lt. Mike Pryor, who works in TPD's human resources department. "When you think about it, police officers are faced with decisions that involve integrity and moral character every day, and so we really, really focus on those things as we go through the (hiring) process."
Some of the new hires will be funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program (COPS), and others will be hired to account for attrition.
The hiring process is highly competitive. Of the 30,000 applicants last year, only 40 were hired, Pryor said.
Before hitting the streets, TPD recruits go through a 17-week basic-training academy at the Southern Arizona Law Enforcement Training Center with recruits from other law-enforcement agencies. Basic training is followed by post-basic training, where now-certified police officers receive five weeks of training related specifically to TPD's practices. The last phase includes 15 to 21 weeks of field training, in which new officers are accompanied by field-training officers on patrol.
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Officer Erin Winans, who has three weeks left of post-basic training, worked as a bridal consultant and took general-education classes at Pima Community College and the University of Arizona.
Her decision to ditch the bridal gowns to don a shield was cemented by observing police officers on ride-alongs.
"Although each officer was able to be different, unique and their own person, the one thing that was universal was that they had an opportunity to get out and impact one person and be the person they needed to be for that person," she said.
Being able to serve the public was the biggest draw for recruit James Horton, who is six weeks into basic training.
After being honorably discharged from the Army, Horton worked in customer service.
The hiring process is long and competitive, and candidates should be prepared physically and mentally.
"Every step of the process should be treated like an interview," he said. "You're putting yourself forward to represent the city of Tucson in that professional manner that Tucson police looks for."
He's learned, though, that in the academy there are some things you can't prepare for.
"We were shot with the OC spray and had to problem-solve as we were undergoing the symptoms," he said of dealing with the effects of pepper spray. "Getting on a radio, weapon retention, making an arrest and all those things while having OC spray on the face was very surprising, very challenging."
The training center provides several hands-on training exercises and real-life scenarios to prepare recruits for anything they might encounter on the streets, instructors said.
"It challenges you to be a better person constantly, not only physically, but you want to do as best as you can academically," Winans said. "It's basically just collectively getting all of who you are as a person together and trying to make it the best you can."
More online
Visit www.jointucsonpd.org to apply to the department.
Applications for will be accepted until March 3.
Contact reporter Veronica Cruz at vcruz@azstarnet.com or 573-4224.
