JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
A one-minute video posted to Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson's Youtube channel is the Jackson Police Department's latest and possibly most cost effective way to attract people to the force.
The video features Police Chief Rebecca Coleman and the mayor himself.
"The exposure we can get by using that is boundless, so we definitely want to take advantage of that," says Assistant Chief Lee Vance.
Vance tells us JPD is currently 470 officers strong. The golden number is 525. But when the force graduates a class of 20, they may just as quickly lose 15.
"People go, choose different paths. Some go to other police departments, some retire, some we ask them to leave," Vance tells us.
The starting salary at JPD is roughly $29,000, with a $2,000 pay increase after two years, when the officer becomes certified. Most other pay increases are dictated by the budget.
The recruiting problem is not unique to our Capital City's police force. You might recall the Dallas, Texas Police Department paying a few recent visits to Jackson to find new officers. But traditional job-fair style recruiting efforts usually don't generate big results.
The department is sinking a lot of hope into social media, without sinking a lot of cash: the video was produced in-house.
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