By Ben Battafarano OMAHA, Neb. ─ The Omaha Police Department was short 99 officers in early 2024, according to Omaha World Herald reporting from March. UNO School of Criminology and Criminal Justice associate professor, Justin Nix, Ph.D., said that there have been several obstacles nationally for recruitment.
Over a hundred thousand career officers were hired as part of the 1994 Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act, and thirty years later, those officers are retiring. After the 2008 financial recession, police departments across the country instituted a five-year hiring freeze, setting recruitment behind. Most recently, in 2020, the George Floyd protests and the resulting police reform movement contributed to a significant reduction of interest in the profession.
Nix said that the nature of police work isn’t as enticing to younger workers today.
“The idea of a pension after twenty-five years is a very long-term goal that maybe doesn’t appeal to them as much as lifestyle in the short term,”, Nix said. “You know, the flexibility of being able to work from home, for example, or having flexible hours and being able to have that work-life balance.”
UNMC Police Officer Ramiro Vazquez says that people join the police force for a variety of reasons, but that the mission remains central.
I did do twenty years in the Army, active duty, deployed all over the world, loved it,” Vazquez said. “Joining the police force was truly an extension of that ─ serving the community, helping others.”
Vazquez and Nix both said that boosting recruitment is increasingly necessary as career officers continue to retire.
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