A wave of retirements is going to change the face of the Denver Police Department in the next few years.
Officers who were hired in large groups through the mid-1970s, a time of massive growth in the city, are nearing the end of their careers.
This year, the Police Department needs to recruit 156 officers to fill those openings.
There are many job opportunities in the department. Over several decades, officers could go from working patrol to crime-scene investigations or into administration, said Detective Michael Lemmons, a Denver police recruiter.
“If you are a bricklayer, that is pretty much it,” Lemmons said. “Here, there is a wide range of things to keep you interested for years and years. You can almost start a new career within a career.”
To get more candidates, the department has eased a requirement that said people who did not pass the police-officer examination the first time could not reapply for a job for one year.
Now applicants are allowed to retest in six months.
In the past, the year-long waiting period was set so that the department could maintain the credibility of the test and applicants would have a harder time remembering its content, Lemmons said.
But six months appears to be a sufficient time period that would still protect the integrity of the test, Lemmons said.
The department is not necessarily looking for local candidates, but people from Denver and Colorado have an advantage in knowing their way around.
Denver has an entry-level program but also one for people who are already police officers who want to come to Denver.
Lemmons said there is no age limit for entry-level applicants, and the department likes to see older people apply to be police officers.
“There is a maturity that comes with life experience than, say, a person who just turned 21,” he said.
The salary for 2006 is $39,924. There are 1,488 sworn officers in the department.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens, 21 years old, have a high school diploma or GED, no felony convictions and no convictions for domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse or harassment.
Also, the department won’t hire people who have used soft drugs, such as marijuana, in the past three years. Hard drugs, like cocaine, cannot have been used by candidates in the past five years.
They also won’t hire people who have a driving-under-the-influence conviction that is less than 3 years old.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
