Police Department Hiring 50 New Officers
MPD hopes recruiting classes will grow to be 30% women by 2030.
A Milwaukee Police Department officer enters a report into a laptop after a traffic stop. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The Milwaukee Police Department is looking to hire 50 new officers as part of a new recruiting class.
“We need honest, compassionate, dedicated officers who understand that service requires respect and humility as much as strength and pride,” said Fire & Police Commission executive director Leon W. Todd, III at a press conference Monday afternoon.
“Consider a career in policing,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “It’s a challenging job. Nevertheless, it can be a personally rewarding career.” In calling for a wide range of applicants, Johnson said the police force will be most effective when it represents the entire city.
Starting pay is $59,731 per year, with the rank-and-file payscale maxing out at $79,856. Individuals promoted to higher ranks can earn even more. Applicants must be 21 years old by their date of hire.
Beyond diversity in race and ethnicity, MPD is also looking for more women. Johnson and Police Chief Jeffrey Norman announced that the city is committing to the national 30×30 initiative whereby 30% of all recruiting class members would be women by 2030.
“We have recently sent a survey to our sworn female members to detect where the concerns are and address them to increase the engagement of those members who currently serve and those we wish to recruit,” said the chief. Norman said the city must be intentional in its efforts to recruit more women.
The city will conduct two recruiting classes in 2023, a 65-member class in the spring and a 50-member class in the fall. Despite the new members, the city budget calls for the number of sworn officers to fall by 17 over the course of the year. The reduction, to a sworn strength of 1,640, would be achieved by retirements and resignations.
Johnson said the city’s fiscal issues aren’t a secret. “But I hope it’s also not a secret that I’ve been working day in and day out with a number of partners to address that very issue,” said the mayor. He said state legislators, who control the city’s fiscal future, understand the issue. “We’re doing everything that we possibly can.”
Interested individuals can apply on the Fire & Police Commission website.
The city is also hiring for the gun-free, desk-job position of 911 telecommunicator. The pay was increased for that job by 26% earlier this year. For more on what’s involved in the role, see our coverage from March.
For a while, I was seeing that the number of retirements & departures from MPD were anywhere from 10 to 25 a month. Classes of 65 or 50 new recruits in classes that take 7 months is a long way away to fill the ranks…which is seldom mentioned. People see a number like 65 new hires and forget that it will be 2023 before they can be on the street.
Republican controlled legislature which has consistently scaled back state revenue sharing to Milwaukee as well as hamstringing Milwaukee from raising its own revenue are complicit in fewer officers on the streets.