Charlottesville Police Department sends largest recruit class to training academy

The Charlottesville Police Department is sending its largest and most diverse group of recruits to the Central Shenandoah Justice Training Academy on July 5.

The 14 new recruits make up the first majority, minority class CPD has ever sent to the academy.

The large class comes at a time when police and sheriff departments across the country are facing employee shortages.

According to the 2021 International Association of Chiefs of Police Survey on police retention and recruitment:

• 78 percent of agencies reported having difficulty in recruiting qualified candidates
• 65 percent of agencies reported having too few candidates applying to be law enforcement officers
• 75 percent of agencies reported that recruiting was more difficult in 2019 than it was in 2014

“A lot of hard work by our staff went into recruiting, background investigations and hiring these new officers,” said Charlottesville Chief of Police Michael Kochis. “This group of officers should be proud to have made it through a very thorough hiring process. We are hiring the best and brightest of those who want to serve the Charlottesville Community. “