Village Approves Police Change To Hire Seasoned Police Officers

OSWEGO, IL — The Oswego Village Board on Tuesday approved a policy change that will allow more seasoned recruits to apply for positions at the Oswego Police Department. The policy change adds a lateral transfer program designed to attract applicants who have already worked as police officers in other communities.

Currently, most of the department’s hires are new recruits who must go through the 14-week
police academy and partner with more experienced officers before they can patrol on their
own. A lateral transfer program would allow the Oswego Police Department to hire officers
who already have several years of experience at other police departments, starting them at
higher salaries but saving on academy costs and getting them out on patrol faster.

Nationally, police departments are facing an increasing shortage of police officers, with more than 63 percent of police departments surveyed in 2019 saying they had seen interest in
available positions significantly drop. With a population that continues to grow, the challenge
to recruit highly qualified, diverse officers is even more acute.

In Oswego, about 43 percent of the village’s patrol officers, many of whom were hired during the population boom of the 1990s and early 2000s, are planning to retire within the next five years.

"By offering a lateral transfer program, we’re not only able to benefit from the experience that
new officer brings to Oswego, we’re also able to better plan and avoid a shortage of officers in
our department in the coming years," Oswego Police Chief Jeff Burgner said in a release. "We want to have as many tools available to us as possible to recruit the best quality candidates to serve our
community."

The policy change is just one tactic the Oswego Police Department is implementing to build up
its staff of sworn officers. In early 2020, the department launched a research-based marketing
campaign at opdrecruits.com to attract a stronger and more diverse candidate pool and
encourage more women and people of color to apply.

Following the campaign, the number of women who took the police eligibility test increased by
49 percent over past recruitment figures, and the number of candidates who identified as
belonging to a racial minority group increased by 38 percent.

The department will continue to recruit entry-level officers on its same biennial testing
schedule in addition to recruiting those more experience police officers hired through lateral
transfers.

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