LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The city of Louisville needs to fill more than 400 open positions in the area of public safety.
That includes jobs such as police officers, firefighters and corrections officers.
The need is so great, Metro Corrections is now advertising with QR codes on the sides of vehicles. Those QR codes direct users' smart phones to a recruiting web page.
"One of the challenges, too, is really changing the culture," said Louisville Metro Corrections Director Jerry Collins. "We've really had to, unfortunately, let some people go, or else we'd be a lot closer to staffing."
Collins said they've hired 80 officers since last year but he said it could still take until next year to be fully staffed.
Louisville Metro Department of Corrections looking to fill dozens of vacancies for sworn officer and civilian roles.
"When we have a shortage, obviously they have to work mandatory overtime, and that in of itself, when you're overworked in a critical job like that, you have to be hypervigilant when you're working," he said. "So yeah, it can potentially create problems."
There are currently 181 vacancies in Louisville Metro Corrections. Of that number, 80 are sworn officer roles and 71 are civilian positions.
Collins believes hiring for both types of positions will require more money.
"Used to be that we were the highest paid jail in the state," Collins said. "Now other folks, to compete, have raised their wages so now we're going into contract negotiations on the sworn side too."
Collins said the jail has also put a larger focus on officer wellness by creating and investing in more programs centered around peer support.
He also is hopeful the $8,000 signing bonus and $3,000 relocation bonus will help increase the applicant pool.
26 new officers take an oath during a December 2022 graduation ceremony to serve as part of the Louisville Metro Police Department.
The Louisville Metro Police Department is also working to fill vacancies. In December, LMPD welcomed 26 new officers, but the department is still hundreds short.
Currently there are 283 officer vacancies. Additionally, LMPD needs to fill another 92 openings for civilian roles.
Meanwhile, Louisville Fire says efforts to boost recruitment post-pandemic seem to be working.
"Now we're able to get back out a little bit more frequently," said Maj. Bobby Cooper, the Louisville Fire Battalion Chief. "We're kind of expanding our region as well, getting out of Louisville and Jefferson County further into the state and up into Indiana."
The Louisville Fire Department currently has 47 firefighter openings.
Cooper expects the next recruitment class this spring to fill that gap, but said yearly retirements will likely create another shortage of a similar size next year.
"There's a lot of jobs out there right now so people may have other options and may not consider public safety as a career," Cooper said. "But it's a phenomenal career. Our job and our challenge now is to show people how appealing the career is in public safety."
Louisville Fire Dept. engine sits parked inside headquarters inside downtown Louisville.
Cooper said the department needs to continue to increase its applicant pool because not everyone will make it through the rigorous training and application process.
He thinks more awareness about the financial benefits could help encourage more people to look into joining the firefighting field.
"We understand money is a part of it and the money is good," Cooper said.
Starting pay is $55,317.18 for Louisville Fire Department firefighters. Within the first five years of employment, firefighters can earn an increase of base pay up to $76,000 and additional overtime pay.
"Plenty of opportunities for career advancement. We're an agency of over 500 people. There is a ranking system so there's opportunities to promote and advance your career throughout the Louisville Fire Department. We need to encourage people to consider public safety as a career much more often than they may be doing right now."
The firefighter also said the department is working to improve follow-up communication with applicants to ensure they complete the process before deadlines.
"There's a small window of an application period. It might be a month-long application period where we have to have recruits and candidates in to apply for the test and sometimes they'll miss that window," Cooper said. "Younger applicants are communicating differently. We used to send a lot of notices and follow up via email. Now we're noticing emails aren't being followed the same way they used to be by the younger generation, so we're following up with thinks like text messages and phone calls."
To learn more about becoming a firefighter with the Louisville Fire Department, click here.
To learn more about available roles within Metro Corrections, click here.
To learn more about joining LMPD, click here.
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