Regardless of what you think about Senator Barack Obama or your beliefs in polls and campaign momentum, if the 2008 presidential elections were held today, based on current information, it appears Senator Obama would have the upper hand in the election. Having said that, each day brings new information and with that anything could happen or change in a heart beat. However I think it's fair to say at this point there is a 50/50 chance either candidate could win the upcoming November 2008 presidential election and as such, there is a 50/50 chance your recruiting plans could be affected.
Having said that, now might be a good time to start giving thought to having a plan in place for a possible win by Senator Obama to capitalize on his plan to increase public service, i.e, volunteerism, across America. Planning now may help your department capture what may be a new and large potential pool of younger police interns which could lead to more qualified police recruits, something all police agencies could use a boost of. According to speeches and documents published by Senator Obama, if elected, the Senator plans to offer college students a $4,000 "American Opportunity Tax Credit" for completing 100 hours of service to their community. For some, this could provide the necessary financial capacity to go on to college versus entering the job market with only a high school diploma.
Why plan now?
While some agencies already actively recruit and utilize young men and women as police interns to volunteer their time within their agency, this is not a common trend for the majority of agencies as compared to Police Explorer posts or cadet programs. The latter provides young men and woman a small salary to "learn and earn" while they perform non-enforcement duties and assist with administrative tasks.
So why plan now? Another stated goal of Senator Obama's is one most Americans would have a hard time finding fault with and that is to increase the pay of our brave men and women serving in the military. As anyone who has served knows, depending on what part of the country you live in, military pay is almost at the poverty line. According to the U.S. Census Bureau statistics for 2007, the poverty threshold for a family of three, with one adult working, one non working spouse and one child (i.e. a solider deployed in Iraq with his wife at home raising a baby) is an annual income of $16,689.00. An enlisted man or woman in the U.S. military at the rank of E-2 with two years of service earns $1,509.90 a month or $18,118.80 a year, which is only $1,429.80 a year more than what the federal government considers the line of poverty in America. Without dwelling on the numbers to much, there are housing allowances, etc. which can add to an E-2 enlisted persons pay but I think you get the point, our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines deserve better. Further, I think it's fair to say, one of the main reasons people leave the military, who otherwise enjoy their job, is for better pay. The good news so far for law enforcement agencies is that men and women exiting the military have been a great source for recruiting as they understand the chain of command, have weapons training and are generally speaking "squared away".
No one, in my humble opinion, can argue that a good healthy pay raise is long overdue for the members of our U.S. Military. If implemented, it should have the right outcome and help retain these wonderful protectors of our nation while providing them a level of pay closer to what the law enforcement community receives. That's the good news. The downside for law enforcement is this may reduce one area of recruiting that until now has been fruitful for them, men and women exiting the military.
So, to answer the question at the beginning of this section, "why plan now?", because if you don't, you may find yourself upside down in your recruiting goals and scrambling to back fill the void. Keep in mind, hundreds, if not thousands of non-profit agencies already recruit at the college level and will benefit from this new opportunity big time as they’re already set up to recruit volunteers there. I would expect that once any college student who could use the $4,000 tax credit learns that all they need to do is volunteer 100 hours of their time to earn it, they would be foolish not to. Developing a plan now, even if it's simply identifying which local colleges are closest to your agency would be a wise move as you have a 50/50 chance of reaping the benefits of your plans.
