JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – The Jacksonville Beach Police Department is using an accelerated hiring process to address the officer shortage the department is facing.
At a city council meeting to address safety issues after the triple shooting in Jacksonville Beach, JBPD Chief Paul Smith said he was down about 20 officers.
“I am 20 officers down as of today out of 67. So showing force is fine but I have to have some help. I can’t do this with 40 people,” he said during the meeting.
Detective Yavonne Ikrim said the point of the accelerated hiring process is to get applicants through quickly.
“So this started about two years ago, we started the accelerated hiring process, and it’s been a success. It’s shortened the time from three to six months to now one to three months, which really helps out the police department,” Ikrim said.
People in the police academy or who are already certified can go through the process that consists of several tests, including physical abilities tests, written exams and oral boards.
Some people will also have to take a computer voice stress analyst test.
Residents like David Stepp feel having this process will help with having more patrol on the streets.
“You don’t always want cops around everywhere but certain situations when they know there’s stuff happening like a party a couple of weeks ago. They should add more people to patrol and not rookies out in the boardwalk they should have a bigger presence,” Stepp said.
The department will hold another accelerated hiring process on May 22 and is currently accepting applications.
Interested applicants can click here to apply.