Police Recruitment of Marines Intensifies

They weren’t exactly fuming, but San Diego County’s law enforcement agencies hardly rejoiced this week when the Los Angeles Police Department visited Camp Pendleton for the first time to look for police recruits.

Offering good pay and prestige, the LAPD’s sudden interest in the Marines here seems to escalate the intense competition among police and sheriff’s departments for the limited supply of qualified applicants.

“There was a day when we’d test for police, and they would line around this building four times,” said San Diego police Sgt. Joe Markwell, a recruiter. “That just doesn’t happen anymore, we’re really out there beating the bushes for these people.”

That’s why the arrival of LAPD representatives, with a $500,000 recruiting budget and 900 jobs to fill, doesn’t make it any easier for local agencies offering lower salaries to attract new people.

“It does make our job a little harder,” said San Diego County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jerry Lewis. His department pays new deputies $25,200 a year after they graduate from the academy and begin active duty, while the LAPD’s starting pay range is $32,400 to $38,000.

The San Diego Police Department put about 200 recruits through the academy this year, will offer a starting salary of $24,600 a year as of Jan. 1, and likes to hire qualified Marines. Markwell joined the department in 1979 after he retired from the Marines as a master sergeant.

Most agencies seek applicants anywhere they can, and it’s typical to find law enforcement recruiters at churches, colleges, shopping malls and elsewhere. But the military, with its emphasis on discipline, physical conditioning and rank structure, is considered a natural source of prospective police officers and sheriff’s deputies.

“The military in San Diego is very important,” said Lewis. “We like to go after ex-military because they can handle the regimen of police work.”

Beside that, the armed forces are a logical place to find people in the right age bracket, especially as candidates in the preferred age category are dwindling throughout the entire population.

“One of the problems in recruiting is the decline in the population of 18- to 20-year-olds,” said Lt. Louis Scanlon of the San Diego Police Department. “We’re in competition with the private sector for a declining commodity.”

Faced with such changing demographics and having huge manpower needs, the LAPD decided to cast its recruitment net a little farther than it has before. Last Monday, the department arrived at Camp Pendleton looking for Marines who are planning to leave the service in three to six months.

“This was the first time we’ve come to Camp Pendleton,” said Theresa Adams from the Los Angeles police and fire personnel department. “It was kind of an experiment to see what interest we’d get.”

LAPD received 150 inquiries from Marines, but only 30 individuals actually showed up to take a written test. Adams said more would have attended, but there was a mix-up in locations for the test. She said the LAPD will return to Camp Pendleton and also visit the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro in Orange County.

“This is really new to us,” Adams said. “We have a big order. We estimate 900 positions translates into 15,000 persons taking the written test.”

The county’s other law enforcement agencies have tall orders to fill too, and the LAPD’s interest in Camp Pendleton increases the competition for officers.

“Recruitment is a really hot issue,” said Oceanside Police Chief Lee Drummond, who said his department has had a “close relationship” with Camp Pendleton. His department has hired 25 people from a variety of sources since July.

Drummond’s department can’t offer LAPD pay, but it trades on Oceanside’s law enforcement challenges, beach venue and lower housing costs. “I feel we can be competitive with LAPD, obviously not salary-wise, but we have a lot to offer,” he said.

However, some officers still aren’t enticed. They want the best of both worlds, LAPD pay and San Diego County life style.

Oceanside’s recruiting officer, Lt. Curt Milam, said, “You’d be surprised how many officers live in Oceanside and Carlsbad and commute to L.A. or Orange County. . . . I don’t know how they do it.”