ROCHESTER, Minn.- Law enforcement risk their lives every day to keep people safe. In a city with a growing population, serving as a Rochester police officer can be challenging but also rewarding.
The Rochester Police Department use to be flooded with job applications. Lately, it's been seeing fewer applications. Chief Jim Franklin believes there is a challenge across the state to recruit officers.
"We went from having traditionally one academy a year to three new academies in 2021 which takes a significant amount of effort as an organization. Alot of people don't understand the complexity and length of time it takes to hire and get someone as a full capacity police officer out there working on the street by themselves."
The process from when officers are hired to fully trained can take up to a year. So far in 2021, RPD has received 80 applications. In years past, they've seen more.
"We are seeing a significant decrease in the number of applicants and there's also a significant decrease in the number of applicants taking the post-test," says Franklin.
RPD is also seeing fewer college students taking the courses necessary to join the force. Operating short staff might make the job challenging at times, but the department's core hasn't changed.
"We're still here to protect and serve the community, to provide the public safety services to this community," explains Franklin. "I think certainly you can say it's become very complex."
Dealing with social issues, substance abuse, people in crisis and technology advacements have made the job more complex. It also plays a big role with RPD. Captain Jeff Stilwell is one of the staff who has seen the technology change the most throughout the years.
Over the years, the department has added tasers, squad cameras, and body cameras. Thanks to social media, the speed of information is able to travel quicker.
"When I started, we hand wrote police reports, we didn't have a computer in the car, we didn't have body cameras or squad car cameras. Â All those things have been added to the toolbox and it some ways made life easier and in some ways made life difficult."
In addition to technology advances, diversity has also changed the department. RPD has numerous different officers coming from diverse backgrounds. One of them is Garrison Lenz. Lenz is one of seven African American officers representing Rochester's police force.
He went to law school but eventually decided to change career paths. In 2020, after the death of George Floyd, Lenz decided to become a police officer.Â
"It was kind of a weird time to get into it. I was talking to my wife right before I started the whole process," Lenz tells KIMT News 3. "I Â was trained to be a lawyer and graduated law school. I was thinking between being a lawyer and doing the whole law enforcement thing and we made the decision."
The department's drive for more African American officers motivated him to apply for a job with Rochester's Police Department. For lenz, being a black cop in The Med City has its pros and cons.
"There are some definite advantages in that for some of the context that I have, things aren't as confrontational. Sometimes, there's a little more inherent trust," explains Lenz. "If I go out with one of my partners, sometimes it can help keep situations from escalating more however, that's also one of the toughest parts about being an African American cop. You go into those situations and there's almost a presumption of what you're going to do based on skin color."
Overall, the job might have its pros and cons but no matter what RPD stays strong. The department will continue to go above and beyond in representing the community. They will be offering an explorers program for teenagers interested in becoming a police officer. The program will be an open house on Sunday from 12pm-2pm.Â
