How the CHP is drawing a flood of new recruits when the LAPD, other agencies struggle to hire

"For all the talk of recruitment struggles at the Los Angeles Police Department and other law enforcement agencies nationwide, some local agencies are finding that hiring new officers has gotten easier. Take the California Highway Patrol, which in November graduated a class of 146 officers from its academy in West Sacramento. The statewide agency, which mainly polices traffic violations on freeways and oversees state property, has sworn in more than 600 new officers this year - a total that many departments would envy."

"While citing many of the same reasons that experts have given for why fewer people are going into law enforcement - continued scrutiny over officer misconduct, relatively low pay compared with other less dangerous professions, and a general lack of interest in long careers in government service - CHP Commissioner Robin Johnson said that some of the agency's recruitment problems were internal."

"For instance, she said, the agency for many years resisted outsourcing its background check process, partly because of the cost, but also to avoid going against tradition that said the process should be handled in-house. As a result, the roles were filled by officers who had had to juggle "other duties besides background investigations" - thereby prolonging the time it took to review an applicant's background, she said. An internal analysis found that roughly half of applicants were dropping out during background checks, she said."

The California Highway Patrol graduated a class of 146 officers in November and has sworn in more than 600 new officers this year. Recruitment challenges include scrutiny over officer misconduct, relatively low pay compared with other less dangerous professions, and declining interest in long government careers. An internal analysis found roughly half of applicants were dropping out during background checks. In-house handling of background checks and officers juggling multiple duties prolonged review timelines. The CHP adopted a third-party company for core background work and shifted to an online application system, which sped processing and improved applicant tracking and recruiter communication.

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