The Chicago Police Department is seeking Marines to join their ranks as they face a large shortage of officers in their department.
This week, the department had 50 new officers join but there are still 1300 positions to fill and they are hoping Marine veterans can help.
“The reality is that we need to fill the gaps quickly,” Chicago police Deputy Chief Migdalia Bulnes told CBS News.
In Southern California, 9,000 Marines leave the service at Camp Pendleton to become civilians every year. In hopes of finding recruits, Bulnes and six other officers traveled to the base in hopes of finding potential recruits.
Bulnes says it’s not an easy task to convince Marines to join because of “the negativity that goes around it.”
According to a survey by Police Executive Research Forum, the hiring of new officers in 2020 decreased 20% from the year prior and officer resignations increased 40% from 2020 to 2021.
During their visit, nineteen Marines applied and were immediately given background checks, drug screens, and written tests.
Normally the department would take several months to process applications but they are now completing them in a few weeks.
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