Austin police change recruit criteria

Austin (KXAN) - Austin’s police chief has changed recruit application requirements in order to attract the broadest range of future police officers possible in a fast-growing city where hiring is a constant game of catch-up.

Amidst the pomp and ceremony of Friday’s latest police cadet graduation, Chief Art Acevedo told KXAN he recently decided to abandon a requirement for police academy applicants to have a minimum of 32 college credits or two years’ military service.

“It just opens the door for those that want to come to the top in the hiring process. There’s no magic formula as to who would be a good cop,” he said. “We’ll take a look at everybody.”

He admitted most applicants have some college education, but he said he values life experience as much as a young person who has only book knowledge and no responsibilities.

“I’d rather have either somebody that has formal education or life experience -- people with life experience that have worked hard for a living, that see how challenging life is,” he added.

He’s talking about people like 42 year-old former Round Rock high school teacher Brenda Glasgow. Her husband is already an Austin police officer and she was ready to take her level of community service to a whole new level, calling Austin’s intense 32-week academy ‘challenging.’

“Being a teacher for 20 years, I knew how to study. The academic part was the easier part for me,” she told KXAN.

For another graduate, a former carpenter and mixed martial arts fighter Adam Ganshirt, the Austin Police Academy was equivalent to going after a college diploma. He said he was glad he secured the college credit that was still needed at the time he applied. Call it sage advice from someone who says he didn’t study hard in high school.

“The (Austin Police Academy) academics are pretty tough. And I think if I hadn’t gone through the college I went through prior, I might have struggled,” he said.

From an academic perspective, the Chief says the Academy’s intense 8-month course load actually compares to a college endeavor. He points out earning a Texas peace officer’s license (something every law enforcement officer in the state must do), candidates must complete 618 hours of training, both in the classroom and hands-on like firearms and driving training.

But APD’s course totals more than 1200 hours and includes 40 hours of Spanish classes along with the finer points of community policing.

As well, APD worked out a deal with Austin Community College where Police Academy graduates come away with the equivalent of 24 credits.

As a part of changing the entry requirements, the Chief told KXAN the department has increased the minimum passing score on the Nelson-Denny test. It's used to measure people's ability to successfully complete the academy.

In the nick of time

And the Chief says the new hires are coming in the nick of time. Last year, a study by the Police Executive Research Forum recommended by 2017, APD should add:

• -155 patrol officers
• -78 detectives and
• -24 sergeants

That's a total of 257 positions to keep up with population growth.

Another Austin Police Academy, made up of modified recruits, officers from other jurisdictions with experience, is due to graduate in May.

The City of Austin’s website says the city is currently taking applications for police cadet classes due to begin in January and April of 2014.