The Wichita (KS) Police Department has a total of 12 female recruits in its latest academy class—the most women ever in a single recruiting round—up from eight women in last year's batch of would-be WPD officers.
Even after lowering the hiring standards, many agencies can't fill their ranks. In some cities it's common for detectives and other plainclothes personnel to be sent out in uniform on patrol. In some jurisdictions it's not unusual for patrol units to field 50% of their allocated officers because they just don't have enough people to do the job.
Two years after loosening up the department's tattoo regulations, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo announced that officers will be allowed to grow beards.
The San Diego Police Department wants first-time home-buyers to join the ranks of its sworn officers, and is willing to loan those individuals $50,000 to help them settle in the Southern California city.
The Sacramento Police Department has waived the requirement for a college degree for recruits who are veterans of the United States military.
Veterans of America's military tend to make excellent police officers—they have baked into their very being a commitment to service, an unusually high level of discipline, an understanding of chain-of-command, and other qualities that police officers also share.
The Sterling (IL) Police Department is fully staffed for the first time in two decades.
The Illinois State Police announced this month that the agency would no longer require a four-year degree for applicants.
The number of police officers in Canada has fallen to a 10-year low, with 68,562 officers nationwide in 2018—463 fewer than a year earlier.
The Norfolk (VA) Police Department announced on Monday that it is ending its restrictions on full facial hair and visible tattoos.