WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The Winston-Salem Police Department hosted an open house Tuesday night in an attempt to chip away at the high number of vacant positions on its staff.
According to WSPD, it hopes to add more than 100 officers to its payroll.
Nationwide, about two-thirds of law enforcement agencies have reported hiring struggles. Things are no different in the Triad, where many departments have had issues hiring officers and retaining them once they're hired.
Staffing has been an ongoing issue in Winston-Salem, where the department needed upwards of 150 officers at this time in 2023.
Officer Manny Gomez told WFMY News 2 that interested candidates will be able to speak with members of the department's SWAT team, the honor guard and the patrol division.
For those who would rather take a role on the professional staff, they will have members of the recruiting team around to walk people through the process for communications positions, 911 dispatcher jobs and spots in records, IT and other areas.
"There's been a lot of events across the nation that cast a negative light on law enforcement, but we are a very noble profession," Gomez said. "We serve the community in which we live and where we work, and we want to make sure that the community members know that those are the type of people that we're seeking: somebody with a service heart and somebody that wants to be a team member."
Elsewhere in the Triad, the Greensboro Police Department is trying to fill 14 vacancies — way down from the 120 open positions it had last year.
Patrick DeSota, Public Information Officer for the Greensboro Police Department, told WFMY News 2 that the GPD is currently on an upswing when it comes to hiring, though that could change in the future.
"The police department is in the court of public opinion, as I like to say," DeSota said. "Changes go through society and people want to join the department or people don't want to join the department."
The High Point Police Department currently has 55 open positions, while the Randolph County Sheriff's Office and the Burlington Police Department have 20 and five vacancies, respectively.
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