The Fort Wayne Police Department launches a recruitment website

FORT WAYNE, Indiana (WANE) – The Fort Wayne Police Department has launched a new website to assist in recruiting new officers for its police force.

The joinwfwpd.org website provides a complete overview of all the information one could need for a career with FWPD.

It includes enrollment requirements, salary and benefits information, career opportunities at FWPD, reasons why Fort Wayne is a great place to live and work, and provides a complete overview of the steps in the recruiting process.

It contains information for new hires and for transfers from other departments.

The video, which appears in the background of the site’s home page, shows one of the department’s big messages about hiring: you can have any background.

The video features members of FWPD’s recruitment team and shows that they come from all walks of life. A former factor worker, a former administrative assistant, a former delivery driver – they are all now Fort Wayne police officers.

“A lot of people worry that they won’t make a good officer because they don’t have experience, and as you can see on our website, you don’t need to have any experience at all,” Officer Allissa Barnhorst said. “Any interactions you’ve had with people in the past, that’s what we’re about, is interactions with people.”

This extra recruiting effort doesn’t come from a place of desperation.

Sergeant Jeremy Webb said the department’s recruitment numbers are currently where they should be, but he said national law enforcement recruitment trends were going in the wrong direction. They don’t want that to be a problem in Fort Wayne.

“I mean, if we look at the trends nationally, we’d be foolhardy not to say, ‘Okay, that could happen here,'” Sgt. Webb said. “So, let’s make sure we get out of there. Let’s make sure our numbers stay where they need to stay and to be honest it’s going to take effort now. In the past you got these applications. Now we still get them, but we have to work on it. We have to get out. We need to meet people in their communities. We have to market. We need to show what we have to offer in law enforcement.”

There is a QR code on the website that puts you in direct contact with FWPD recruitment officers. You can also text “JOINFWPD” to 260-233-9850.