Columbia police hiring process goes beyond physical, written requirements

Police are meant to protect the communities they serve and in the age of pervasive social media posts, where poor policing methods are blasted across the internet, the Columbia Police Department works to have a high standard for the men and women it hires.

“We really focus on that internal side of folks; what’s in their heart, mind and spirit,” said Sgt. Richard Horrell, the officer in charge of training and recruitment at CPD.

The process of hiring one officer can take from nine to 12 months, and even though much of that has to do with a three-month long background check, several weeks of work at the police academy and a four-month training period with the department, there’s a standard of behavioral values that takes time to be revealed as well.

Horrell said he looks for several characteristics in an officer before he hires them: character, professionalism, dedication and the ability to be humble to name a few.

“Folks need to be wanting to do this job and take care of other people,” said Horrell. “When we talk about creating value for us, we want to serve the citizens in this community that best way possible and want to have good quality people.”

He also looks for what he calls “nobility.”

“By nobility, I mean a person that’s very vested in service, justice and fundamental fairness,” he said.

Many applicants that meet all the basic requirements might not have that mindset, and it affects their ability to be part of the team.

“Some of those things might not jive with what someone has submitted to us,” he said.

But the process has to continue whether characteristics reveal themselves or not. Although potential officer isn’t even officially hired until they’ve completed several steps, which include a written test, an interview and a background check.

Jessica Harris is the Human Resource employee charged with managing the hiring process for a new officer. As the hypothetical gatekeeper of sorts, she makes sure that everyone who applies has the proper paperwork in order and administers their first written exam.

She’s the initial contact for all applicants.

“I try to keep it as positive as possible and answer [questions] to the best of my knowledge,” she said. “If I don’t know the answer, [I’ll] find the answer for them to not deter anyone from a bad experience with applying to the city of Columbia.”

She also sits in on interviews, making sure that any personal information that could hurt a potential applicant doesn’t make it into the conversation.

“We’re the unbiased individual in the process,” she said.

But recruiting these officers can be difficult. Horrell said the rigorous and tedious process itself doesn’t deter potential new hires. It’s often the state of affairs nationwide that turn them away.

“That becomes more prominent particularly from the social media things that are out there,” he said. “I think that creates the environment of people not wanting to come into this profession.”

Horrell said he believes the lack of officers applying for jobs is cyclical, and so the department continues to work hard to recruit. The department visits career fairs, police academies and any nearby college or university with a criminal justice program.

The benefits of working for CPD also work as a recruitment tool.

“We have a pretty good system here of recruitment offers,” he said. “By that I simply mean the benefits, the salary is competitive and we have the ability to send somebody to the academy and pay for that.”

Officers are also given their uniforms and equipment without having to pay a cent. But beyond those benefits, Horrell said the best recruitment tool is the people who work at the department.

“If you work in a great environment, you instill that into other people,” he said. “Other people will get that and ask you about the agency.”

In the end, Horrell believes that although the nine to 12 month recruitment process can seem long, from the discovery of an applicants core values to their work in the department’s police officer training program, it will win out and produce the kind of quality officers that the city needs.

“We want to stick with our quality standards and our ability to train people so you have excellent police officers out there working,” he said. “In order to do that, you can’t just take somebody and put them into that role. You need to develop them over time.”

You can find a link to the department’s hiring process here.