In an effort to draw more police officers to the City of Lincoln, LPD’s Education and Personnel Unit is taking recruiting efforts across the state. “Our Recruitment Team recently spent two days on the campus of Chadron State College,” says LPD Public Information Manager Erika Thomas.
She says they’ll be heading to the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus on April 29 and 30. “We want to eliminate any barriers to entry for those considering a career in law enforcement, including needing to take off multiple days of work or school to travel to Lincoln to participate in our written and physical testing and in-person interviews, saving both time and money for travel and lodging.”
Thomas says these road show events allow potential recruits to complete all of this in one day where they live. Any applicant must complete and pass all three to continue in the hiring process. “The only time an applicant would have to come to Lincoln would be after their conditional offer, to complete polygraph, psych and medical exams,” Thomas says. “The only requirement is you must apply in advance.”
Filling out LPD’s initial application takes less than 10 minutes online and there’s no commitment. In addition, you don’t have to pre-register, you can just show up to take the written test on the morning of April 29.
Thomas says LPD’s goal is to surpass their authorized strength of 371 commissioned officers by this summer, hiring above that mark to account for retirements and staffing adjustments. “We already have nine final offers for our July class with more coming soon,” Thomas says. She says future officers want to come to Lincoln because of the pay and benefits.
“LPD offers one of the highest pay scales in Nebraska, which recently increased to nearly $75,000 a year for entry level officers,” Thomas says. Anyone interested in participating can reach out to new Recruitment Coordinator Andre O’Connor with questions at 402-441-7231.
Thomas says they plan to expand these roadshow events to more college campuses around Nebraska and the region in months to come.