1,300 Try Out To Become Stockton Police Officers
STOCKTON (CBS13) - Over thirteen hundred candidates tried out to become Stockton police department's newest members Saturday morning.
The call for police officers has been heard far and wide as candidates came from all over the state join the ranks.
Officer Joe Silva with the Stockton Police department tells CBS13 that the department is going about recruiting differently this round by adding an incentive.
If the recruits pass the physical agility course as well as the written examination and a background examination the city will pick up the tab for the state's police academy.
The Stockton Police Department needs about 100 positions filled at this time. The agility test is not as easy as you may think. During the test the cadets must jump over a 5.5 foot wall, run through an obstacle course, carry a 150lb body a number of feet and then complete a 500-foot run all while being timed.
Cadets that pass the agility test will than be asked to take and pass a written examination and a background check. The applicants with the highest scores will then move onto the academy on the dime of the city.
Officer Silva adds that this is the largest group they have seen in quite a while, he believes it is in part due to the new program.