Photo: Ford, Brad
Mayor Ted Wheeler and Chief Chuck Lovell, along with other members of the City Council, welcomed 15 new police officers and 9 professional staff members to the Portland Police Bureau today. Commissioner Dan Ryan and Commissioner Rene Gonzalez also attended the ceremony and shared remarks with the new hires and their family and friends.
The Bureau now has 810 sworn members. This includes all ranks from the Chief to the 551 officers. Of those officers, 108 are in training. There are currently 314 patrol officers assigned to precincts. More information about our staffing is available on our website: https://www.portland.gov/police/open-data/ppb-staffing-report
PPB is building back from its lowest number of sworn members, which was 773 in September 2022. This was the fewest sworn members since 1989. The lowest number of members at the rank of officer was in May 2022, when there were 509 out of 609 authorized.
Recruiting and hiring efforts continue to yield results. PPB has hired 96 officers and 31 Public Safety Support Specialists since January 2022. Nine officers will graduate from the basic police academy at the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training in Salem tomorrow. Four former PPB officers have applied to return and are in the rehire process. And more are on the way. Eighty-three officer applicants are in the background investigation process right now. Applications for police officer keep coming in. Over the past year, (March 16, 2022 – March 16, 2023), there have been 1519 police officer applicants. The Personnel Division has refined the hiring process and shortened it substantially, 6 months or less in most cases.
While these 15 officers are being presented their badge today, it will be some time yet before they are fully trained and working by themselves in patrol cars. The training process for a new hire is 18 months, including the Basic Police Academy at the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training in Salem, a PPB Advanced Academy, and field training with a coach.
Today, the Bureau also hired 9 professional staff, including Police Records Specialists, 2 Mental Health Crisis Responders for the Behavioral Health Unit, a Training Analyst, a Property Division Public Safety Aide, a Crime Victim Advocate with the Detective Division, and a Police Administrative Support Specialist. PPB also promoted two Police Records Specialists to Police Records Training Coordinators.
The Portland Police Bureau still has sworn vacancies and continues hiring both lateral and entry level community police officers. It's an exciting and rewarding career with excellent benefits. Salary ranges $75k-$107k per year plus pay incentives. Benefits are 95% paid by the city. Visit https://JoinPortlandPolice.com for more information or to contact a recruiter. Staff are ready and waiting to answer questions from potential applicants.
Source: Portland Police Bureau