Police force goes out of its comfort zone — and geography — to woo new officers

Similar to businesses and nonprofits, the Lakeland Police Department has turned a pandemic-based hiring need into a previously unforeseen opportunity to recruit personnel from outside Florida.

For the LPD, that’s a pipeline from the largest police force in the country, the New York City Police Department. Lakeland hired two NYPD officers in 2020 and has brought on a dozen more former Big Apple officers in 2021. LPD Assistant Police Chief Hans Lehman notes recruiting in law enforcement has quickly morphed from what was mostly a local process to states now poaching from other states. He recently read, for example, that Alaska State Troopers are recruiting officers from Washington state.