BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Bellingham City Council is proposing some new initiatives to recruit new police officers.
Mayor Seth Fleetwood said during a Council meeting on Monday that BPD will begin a one-year pilot program where candidates won’t need an associate’s degree in order to apply.
“We expect that temporarily reducing the education requirement will help us attract additional candidate who make excellent police officers,” said Fleetwood.
BPD Chief Rebecca Mertzig said that despite the change, candidates will still have to go through a rigorous screening process.
“There’s still going to be the same high standards in the background investigation. A polygraph exam, a psychological exam, in order to get to that initial hiring process,” said Mertzig. “So, I just wanted to make sure people weren’t worried that the standard was actually lowering or we’re just trying to get more people through the door.”
In addition, BPD has also secured a $60,000 grant to help hire more officers.
Mayor Fleetwood said that there’s an incentive at hand for potential bilingual candidates:
“A portion of the grant will be used to provide hiring bonuses for candidates who speak languages in addition to English,” said Fleetwood.
The grant was provided through Washington state’s Criminal Justice Training Commission.