Recent years have seen numbers of interested persons dwindle when it comes to applying for positions at police departments across the country.
An unfortunate ongoing divide has made the situation that much more difficult, but so far this year, the Borough of Palmyra and the Palmyra Police Department has seen an uptick in those interested in joining the department.
Within two months, the number of applicants for the department has already exceeded last year and as the department continues its search to fill open positions, those within the department are expecting that interest to sustain.
“We lost a few officers due to retirements and officers moving to other departments, so we’re in a very big rebuilding stage right now,” PTLM Matt Maresca said. “We just had a hire who’s going to be sworn in at the end of the month, which is very exciting.
“We’re just constantly going through background checks and looking into new applicants who could possibly be working with us.”
Maresca said that the department has been posting on social media about this for a few months now and looking back through the PPD’s Facebook page, hiring posts date back to as far as late September 2022.
The department has been trying different ways in order to spurn more interest and so far, that has worked out well with the increase of resumes sent in.
A few positions are expected to be filled coming up, along with the one position that has been filled so far this season, with that officer yet to be sworn in.
“It used to be such a revered position to be a police officer,” Maresca said. “Now, between a number of different factors, a lot of those people don’t really see the same desire to come out and be a police officer.
“…There was a big slow down in regards to getting applicants and now with the new year, in particular, we’ve been seeing a lot more applicants come in, fill out applications and some already going through the process of interviews and background checks.”
There are a few requirements/preferred qualifications for those 18 years or older who are interested in joining the Palmyra Police Department, including a high school diploma or GED, some experience in previous departments with proper certification or SLEO II candidates, and more.
The department has sent interested officers to training and academy before if their qualifications have met the standard in Palmyra, and it seems that there are quite a few candidates more than qualified to join the department so far.
In a time that has been difficult, Palmyra has been making the most of it and looks to be headed in the right direction.
“We’re looking for good, quality people that want to work, want to help the community,” Maresca said. “We’re big on our community outreach program and we’re continuing to grow that. We want people who want to be involved beyond the normal call.
“It definitely is a really bright future ahead that we’re looking at and I’m really excited to see what we can do at the department.”
Starting salary for the position begins at $53,000 and officers are given a one-time signing bonus after training.
Those interested can visit palmyrapd.org, call the department at 856-829-0198 or visit the department in person for the application forms to fill out.
