Monterey Police Department Hoping To Hire Three Officers Before New Year

The Monterey Police Department is looking to fill two open positions with the hope of hiring three officers in the next several weeks.

Police Chief Bill Randolph said hiring officers has become more of a challenge in recent years. Randolph said they lost an officer to the Highway Patrol after that department offered a major pay raise. The department also wants to hire an officer for a new position that will patrol Bee Rock and Meadow Creek Parks.

“It’s slower paced, I would say, than Cookeville is or than the Sheriff’s Department is,” Randolph said. “You’re not going to be wide open all the time. You get to know the community a little better than you would in a bigger town and it seems like a lot of times, you’re more appreciated by the citizens once you get to know them than you would be in a bigger town.”

Randolph said the application period ends December 8. The Civil Service Board will work with Randolph to go through applications and select the new officers. Randolph said the department offers pay that is competitive with bigger towns along with good benefits.

Randolph said the new position at the parks will help the department keep those areas safe by cutting response time. Randolph said the parks have become more heavily visited by hikers and kayakers, so having an officer readily available has become a priority. The parks are several miles out of town, which has caused difficulty in responding to incidents.

“It’s going to cut back on the reaction time to get there and I think they’ll be able to deal with stuff out there,” Randolph said. “It’ll free up the officers already working here in town because they don’t have to go out there to answer calls.”

Randolph said it seems that young people are avoiding law enforcement careers altogether.

“It seems like the last few times that we’ve tried to hire, you’re having fewer and fewer certified officers that are applying,” Randolph said. “You’ve got a lot of people that are retiring out of law enforcement, and you’re not having a lot of the younger people that are coming in like they used to.”

Randolph said the department is looking for candidates of high moral character who enjoy a small-town atmosphere. Randolph said he is confident they can get the positions filled before January 1.