INDIANAPOLIS — The newest class of police recruits is about six weeks away from hitting the streets of Indianapolis to serve and protect.
Izaiah Cole is ready to make a difference.
"You want to protect everybody. If that's your mom or your sister — anybody you love dearly — that's how you should look at it," said Cole, a 24-year-old from northern Indiana. "You want to protect the city as your family."
Sierra Strang, 22, is moving to Indianapolis to join the force from her home state of Maine.
"I felt like it was a place where I could make a difference," she said.
Both Cole and Strang have family members already on the department.
Police recruiters are thankful for the rookies. They just wish there were more of them.
"We're losing people not only to retirement, but they're also going to neighboring departments," said Ofc. Molly McAfee, an IMPD recruiter.
IMPD has lost 81 officers to retirements, transfers or other reasons so far this year. By the end of July, the department will have 1,611 sworn officers out of a budgeted force of 1,743. And that doesn't include American Rescue Plan funding that would allow for the hiring of an additional 100 officers.
It's a similar story in other cities.
The Louisville, Kentucky police department is down 287 officers out of a budgeted force of 1,329. Earlier this year, Nashville, Tennessee, was down 180, according to NBC affiliate WSMV.
Veteran officers call that a concern.
"Because at the end of the day, these positions not being filled … it affects the community," said Ofc. Charles Parker, an IMPD recruiter. "So at this time, crime is going up and we're trying our best to fight."
That fight includes a stepped-up effort to attract new recruits. In the last few years, Indianapolis increased starting officer pay to $53,000, then $75,000 after 36 months.
There's also a $5,000 hiring bonus for new recruits and lateral hires. Existing officers can earn a bonus for referring a candidate who gets hired, and the department will accept applicants up to 40 years old instead of 36.
IMPD is hiring a marketing firm to help spearhead a multi-state campaign to spread the word.
"I'm born and raised in Indianapolis," McAfee said. "I couldn’t sell Indianapolis enough … from the zoo to the race to Victory Field, the Fever, (Indy) Fuel games … honestly, I talk about things l like doing in our city."
Police admit it's a difficult time with officers increasingly under a microscope.
"With policing, you can do 100 things right, but the one time it goes wrong, it's gonna be magnified," Parker said.
But Strang said she’s looking forward to proudly wearing the badge.
"If we get people like us and see what it actually is like, we'll be able to get more officers to join," Strang said. "It is a very rewarding career."