JCPD's low turnover rate bucks trend

Jefferson City police swarm on a sidewalk in the 200 block of East High Street where they take a male suspect into custody Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 4, 2017.
Jefferson City police swarm on a sidewalk in the 200 block of East High Street where they take a male suspect into custody Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 4, 2017.

The Jefferson City Police Department, like many law enforcement agencies, is in constant competition to hire good officers and employees - but the department's turnover rate has stayed fairly low.

In fact, Chief Roger Schroeder said JCPD in 2016 saw its lowest level of turnover since he has been head of the force.

"We lost only one officer (only one in the entire department, regardless of position) last year," Schroeder said. "For a police department of our size (128 personnel), that's unheard of in law enforcement. We're losing one officer to retirement, and we had an additional officer authorized by the City Council last year."

Schroeder said the current selection process has yielded some good candidates, and he believes the department will continue to have no vacancies. He said the department is planning to send its newly employed officers to the training academy at the University of Missouri starting Friday.

"We're riding the wave of good fortune," he said.

JCPD employs 38 non-commissioned, full-time employees, several part-time employees and volunteers at the animal shelter along with 89 police officers of various rank and assignment. The officers work 10-hour shifts and rotate every 28 days. Six hours of daily overlap allows the department to conduct daily briefings without affecting service and elevate staffing during times when calls for service peak.

"We have experienced an oddly consistent turnover rate of about 8 percent for many years," Schroeder said. "One would think the rates would vary and we'd have good years and not-so-good years, but the rates haven't varied significantly. In fact, one would have to go back to 2001 to find a year in which we experienced double-digit turnover - the single exception being 2013, when we lost 17 employees, most because of the encouraged retirement due to the citywide funding shortage. If, however, one excludes the nine retirements that year, we're back to single-digit turnover for 2013. Excluding the skewed retirement number, the turnover rate for the past 15 years ranged from about 4 percent to approximately 9 percent. Those reflect great numbers in the law enforcement profession."

Schroeder said a police officer can't receive too much training in today's world.

"We continue to see expectations grow in terms of what communities expect their officers to immediately know and consistently provide," he said. "Focus on mental illness represents a recent subject which is receiving focused attention. We strive to retain that knowledge.

The pre-employment selection process includes a physical fitness assessment, written test, polygraph examination, two interviews (one with the police chief), a background investigation, a psychological assessment by a police psychologist and a physical assessment by a medical doctor.

"Human beings will inevitably make mistakes of the mind," Schroeder said. "We consciously look for those candidates who won't make a mistake of the heart. We hire young people, many of whom have at least an undergraduate degree and many of whom have been athletes. As such, they more clearly understand and appreciate teamwork, dedication, commitment, sacrifice, time management, balancing the intellectual with the physical, and have demonstrated the willingness to put certain organizational goals and objectives before themselves. They respect the qualities of honesty, professional appearance, demeanor, attitude and a sense of humor."

Schroeder said he's extremely proud of the men and women employed by JCPD.

"I listen to the laughter in the hallways and observe an extraordinary level of camaraderie between our officers, and there is no question they are proud to serve," he said. "They either grew up in our community or decided this is the city in which they wish to raise their family. They willingly accept the sacrifices they must make when they take the oath of 'serve and protect' and assume the special privilege of wearing the police shield. I don't think they focus on the sacrifices they must make but rather on the opportunities they optimistically welcome."