Rehiring LMPD Officers

So, tell me, is it better to hire a lateral or a new recruit? With a lateral, inside the county, your officers themselves should have some ideas about them, after all - and with probation, you should be able to flush out any problems. With a new recruit, you may have zero information.

Louisville doesn't want laterals, that's why they don't make a concerted effort to recruit them. And I mean RECRUIT - every Louisville officer should be recruiting, encouraging good officers from other agencies to come over to Louisville. That's where you get good officers, after all. I know a couple that do it, but most Louisville officers seem to be actively discouraging people from coming to the agency - by conduct if not by speech.

Louisville is no longer such an attractive option that it can continue to do things the old ways - just figure youngsters will flock to the department like they used to. You are going to have to get out and actively seek the kind of folks you want, and actively talk to them to find out what is holding them back from the department. How about a survey that is sent out to everyone who inquired, but then went someone else, find out why they went somewhere else? Without that information, you'll never know WHY officers are going elsewhere.

I can give you a few responses:

Takes too long to get hired (critical if you are needing to move to Louisville for another reason, such as a family issue) - more an issue for laterals than new recruits - although it is a factor for both. In small towns the background check isn't as much of an issue, because people KNOW each other, you know the wild kids, etc., so you don't have to ask questions, you'll already know. In larger cities, that's a different matter, but I haven't been overly impressed with Louisville's background checks in the past.

No reward for special skills (such as language, experience in bomb or canine response, etc.)

No agency support - too much litigation (whether reality or perception)

Salary has actually never been mentioned, in my hearing, at least, since Louisvile pays as much, if not more, than most of the smaller agencies in the area.

Louisville says it wasn't college educated officers, but I don't see them actively recruiting/rewarding them.

You know the old saying, if you keep doing things the way you always have, you'll keep getting the result you've always gotten!