There are currently more than a thousand open police officer positions in Pennsylvania.
Mercyhurst University’s Municipal Police Academy is starting a new program to help strengthen law enforcement engagement.
It’s being called “A Recruitment and Retention Initiative” (ARRIVE).
“That demographic pool of people that would be interested in the police academy, it’s just declined to a point where it’s probably cut in half our numbers,” said Bill Hale, director of Mercyhurst University’s Police Academy.
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Erie Community Foundation is giving the academy $100,000 through their Shaping Tomorrow grant.
“It checked a whole lot of boxes for us relative to quality of life, safety, education, training. so in a lot of ways it was a no-brainer,” said Patrick Herr, vice president of community impact with Erie Community Foundation.
“Arrive” is set to open the doors to police candidates.
Over a two-year period, they will offer scholarships and collaborate with police departments across the state for training.