BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Police agencies nationwide are facing a recruitment crisis. The International Association of Chiefs of Police said 78% of agencies are having trouble finding qualified candidates.
However, the Buffalo Police Department is finding success after 25 recruits were sworn in on Friday.
"We're almost at capacity. We're budgeted for 812 officers. This brings us up to 785 members," said Buffalo Police Department Commissioner Gramaglia.
Commissioner Gramaglia said social media helped get their message out.
"We ran a very aggressive recruiting campaign," he said. "We leveraged a lot of social media. A lot of great videos were produced showing a lot of different aspects of the department and we recruited all around New York State."
The recruits were also reminded about the resources available to them.
"You have to be mentally tough, physically tough, vulnerable. You have to accept when things are just so bad that you need to talk to somebody about it," said Wellness Coordinator Matt Cross.
Commissioner Gramaglia said these future officers will be involved in the community.
"A significant part of what their job is, is regular everyday engagement with the community, going out and seeing what their job is. It's not always making arrests, it's not always dealing with people in the worst of their times. It's not always the bad and the doom and the gloom," Commissioner Gramaglia added.
