Dozens of police recruits became newly sworn officers, Monday.
Soon, the recruits will be hitting our streets in a time when law enforcement agencies are struggling to fill all their positions.
Agencies are also struggling to hire.
The issue has been plaguing departments across the country but unlike some other big cities -- officers in our area do have the support they need from the community.
It was their final work out before hitting the streets in uniform when 37 law enforcement recruits took to the streets of Reno during their six mile pride run, Monday afternoon.
“Excitement is what you saw,” said Darin Balaam, Sheriff for Washoe County moments after watching 20 of his future deputies run past the sheriff’s office along Parr Boulevard.
“Ten is a shift in patrol. So, an entire shift. [For us,] 10 in the jail is about 1/3 of our shift. So, it's a lot of people, but it makes a big difference,” Sheriff Balaam added.
The graduating class is a step forward to the goal of having staffing numbers agencies once had more than a decade ago, but it remains a far reach for cities like Sparks.
"Law enforcement has changed over the past several years. A lot of different laws,” said Nick Chambers, Public Information Officer for Sparks Police.
The shortage of officers and applicants comes amid a nationwide crisis; officers taking early retirements, others leaving the industry due to public backlash, growing crime rates and vaccine mandates.
Many also blame political leaders for easing punishments against criminals.
"I think the [board of supervisors] needs to actually start doing policies based on facts and doing studies first and understanding what they're doing and asking the impact first before committing themselves,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
Villanueva is one of several high profile law enforcement leaders who has budding heads with political leaders over policy changes amid a surge in crime.
"Crimes of any kind will not be tolerated here,” said Mark Stainbrook, Chief of the Beverly Hills Police Department. That city has also seen a spike in what smash and grab and 'follow-home’ burglaries.
Here in Northern Nevada, the support from city leaders has been a welcome sign for law enforcement.
"We're extremely lucky for the community that we have. Our community is extremely pro-law enforcement,” said Lieutenant Blaine Beard of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. Lieutenant Beard spoke to reporters at Idlewild Park, the end of the recruits’ run where they were treated with catered meals.
The recruits had just got done marching down while people honked and cheered.
It is the kind of support they hope to also get when they began patrolling.
Many of these recruits will first go through field training before they are on their own.
The Washoe County Sheriff's Office is still looking for 10 more candidates who have compassion, integrity and no serious arrest records.
Their tactic to fill the gap has been social media, according to the sheriff.
Graduation for this class is set for 10:00 am, Tuesday.
