Mesa Police Recruiting Woes
(Letter sent to Mayor/Council/Manger)
June 7, 2004

June 7, 2004

Dear Mesa Mayor and Council,

At the May 27^th special Council session, a Councilmember stated she understood hundreds apply and even heard one thousand applicants apply for every single police officer position. The City Manager said there were over 520 applicants for the 36 positions in the police academy class right now.

For the year 2004, the number of Mesa applicants who showed up for testing in February 2004 (two recruiting drives) was 182. Another single recruitment drive in May 2004 yielded 82. The total of candidates is 264 for 42 total allotted positions. Why didn’t Mesa fill all 42 positions? Because they can’t get enough qualified applicants to apply!

The Chandler Police Department tested once at the same time as Mesa’s February drives. They had 2 allotted positions and had 250 applicants show up. This makes Mesa’s ratio about 6 candidates per position (actual 6.29) and Chandler’s ratio 125 candidates per position. 

Mesa’s City Manager said he looks to Phoenix because “they are the big players in terms of recruitment.” He said he does not look at turn-over rates as justification, but instead at what potential candidates see when they look to other cites, including salaries and benefits. What do potential candidates see when they research their career options?  

 Phoenix Officers have a higher base salary and Phoenix Officer’s take home $4211.82 to $11,874.28 more than Mesa Officers. Mesa is not competitive. Mesa needs parity or it risks becoming the police training and proving ground for Phoenix PD and other emerging valley police departments. We look forward to working with the Mayor and Council to provide parity.

Respectfully,

The Mesa Police Association