Dallas Police Department recruiters are packing their bags to try and hire dozens of new cops from other states.
DPD's team of 13 recruiters have a tough task in store for them over the next 12 months: hire 449 new, qualified officers. The recruiters are traveling to eight states to pitch new applicants.
The department budgeted for losing 250 officers this fiscal year, which ends on Saturday. The final numbers are likely to be significantly higher.
Next year's budget of hiring nearly 450 officers means the net-gain will once again bring the sworn strength of the city's department to 3,500.
"We're going to go out and recruit aggressively, do what we need to do," said Deputy Chief Scott Walton, who is overseeing the massive recruiting project. "It's going to be a challenge, no one said it'd be easy."
Last week, DPD recruiters traveled to career fairs in Memphis, Tennessee, where 27 people completed preliminary interviews and scheduled field tests, which means they're on track to join a future academy class.
"You want the best training? You want to be the best police officer you possibly can be? This is the place to make it happen," Walton said.
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Next week, a pair of officers will head to career fairs in Milwaukee, and then it's off to New Orleans later in October. There will soon be stops in Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham, Albuquerque and other big cities.
Walton said it's necessary to travel out-of-state in order to snap up young men and women interested in a career in law enforcement.
"There's not that many applicants. There's not that much interest anymore in people having a career as a police officer. So, we have to reach out to everyone that's interested," he said.
Walton says there are challenges and opportunities in trying to convince out-of-state recruits to move to Big D.
"The cost of housing, the cost of transportation, the ease of getting around," he said. "They start looking at the housing in this area and realize how much more house they can afford, and they see that this could be a great move for their family."
During recruiting events, DPD also hypes up its lateral-transfer program to try and get experienced, small-town cops to move here for more money and bigger opportunities.
"Once you move here, you stay here," he said. "If you want to be in homicide, or be a K9 officer, or learn to fly a helicopter, we have all of that."
The average starting salary for a Dallas police officer is about $46,900.
That's a few hundred dollars less than the median starting pay for a Nashville police officer at $47,435 and thousands less than Memphis ($49,721) and New Orleans ($49,517).
But DPD is now able to play up the fact that every officer, including new recruits, will have a 5-percent pay bump starting next year.
