New video boosts BART PD effort to hire more officers
BART PD’s aggressive public outreach campaign to hire more officers is getting a boost from a just released recruitment video. The new video highlights the real-world experience of BART PD officers and shows what it’s like to work in a dynamic transit environment. The department has been going all-out to fill all its vacant officer positions. In the latest quarter BART PD received 837 officer applications, a record high for any quarter in the department’s history.
“This video is the latest tool we are adding to our hiring arsenal,” said BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin. “We have been reaching out to officer candidates by hosting recruitment open houses, attending job fairs, promoting open positions on social media, and various other methods of outreach. We are doing whatever it takes to find high-quality candidates who want to join us on our mission of ensuring that BART is the safest way to travel around the Bay.”
BART PD currently has 23 officer vacancies, which is down from 29 just two months ago. BART PD is now onboarding 7-9 new officers per month.
A key focus of BART PD’s recruitment campaign has been to highlight the recent 22% salary increase for officers. The BART Board of Directors approved that increase in June to ensure pay at BART PD remains competitive with other law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area. Since that time, BART PD has seen a nearly 50% increase in its monthly sworn officer new hire rate. The pay increase is in addition to the $15,000 hiring bonus currently being offered to new hires. BART PD has increased the frequency of its testing and has also streamlined the hiring process so qualified candidates can join the department more quickly.
BART PD has launched the Join BART PD website, which is exclusively geared towards providing candidates with all the information they need to apply. Since its launch in July the site has attracted more than 80,000 views.