An eye catching video helped Danbury Police significantly increase the number of applications the department received from prospective officers. Danbury Police had 526 applicants send in paperwork. That's about 200 more than the last recruitment period. They are looking to hire nearly a dozen entry level officers.
The video had nearly 112,000 views on the Danbury Police Department Facebook page alone. There were another 4,600 views on Youtube.
The Danbury Police Department is authorized for 154 members, but the staffing level is down to about 138.
Chief Patrick Ridenhour says it was thanks to a great job by the recruitment team. He noted that the Department transferred the responsibility to the Community Services Division this year. They touted the different jobs an officer could hold--such as in the K9 Unit, SWAT team and detective bureau. Their goal was to show the fun side of an often stressful job through the recruitment video.
The written exam will be administered in September. Based on those scores, applicants will move to the civil service eligibility list and then to interviews. Those people selected will likely be sent to the training academy in the fall.
There are a limited number of training academy seats each period, and for each municipality. Ridenhour says they have to find some academy seats, but they do have some options to do that.
