PHOENIX — New Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano wants more officers patrolling the city than in a decade. However, his department won’t be willing to hire just anyone.
“Not everyone deserves to wear a badge,” Giordano told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Friday. “There’s a lot of good people out there (who) just don’t deserve to wear the badge. So, we take it seriously.”
Currently, about 2,600 officers work for Phoenix police. Giordano wants to bump that number up to 3,000, which hasn’t been achieved since around 2015.
“When I came here to Phoenix, what I found is our applications have doubled,” Giordano said. “It takes manpower to process those applications, so we’re backfilling some positions to process those applications.”
Part of the reason Giordano was optimistic about staffing was a recent visit he took to the Phoenix Regional Police Academy, where he saw class sizes ranging from 30 to 38 recruits.
“Our employment services, our academy is doing a phenomenal job getting people in the door, providing the training,” Giordano said. “So I think we’re going to start seeing an increase in the number of men and women out on the streets.”
Giordano believes the target goal of 3,000 officers will be reached in a couple of years.
“I think the tide’s turning. We’re getting a lot more young men and women who want to join the department and we’re really excited about that,” Giordano said.
How to become a Phoenix police officer
Giordano cautioned anyone thinking about becoming a Phoenix police officer that it is not an easy process, as he called it “the most elaborate” he knows of.
To start, all applicants must be at least 20 1/2 years old at the time of their application, a U.S. citizen and meet standards set forth by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.
If an applicant is determined to be eligible, they will then go through an extensive background check and aptitude test. Polygraph, psychological and medical examinations will also be performed.
This process can take about two to three months, according to Phoenix police.
If selected to continue, all new recruits will then go through a 26-week-long program at the police academy, which begins every six weeks.
After graduating from the academy, recruits become officers-in-training and go through a 17-week field training program before officially going on patrol.
“We hold ourselves to a high standard and we start that in our hiring process,” Giordano said. “So, to become a Phoenix police officer, it takes a lot of work. It takes the right mentality, right personality.”
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