A new training facility for police cadets opened Wednesday in Washington, D.C., as the District is trying to recruit and retain officers.
The facility is located at 2405 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE and is the first space dedicated solely to the D.C. Corps Program. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Robert Contee attended the facility's opening.
"The impact this program can have on our youth is expansive, and the trajectory of their life can change," Contee said in a news release. "This is a public safety investment that will directly benefit our workforce and the community."
The MPD’s Cadet Corps program allows D.C. residents ages 17-24 to serve as part-time uniformed employees. The program puts cadets on track to ender MPD's Police Officer Recruit Program, according to an MPD release.
Younger cadets can enroll while still in high school. They can make about $34,000 a year while training and receive free tuition at the University of the District of Columbia. Older recruits with college degrees can start at about $60,000.
Aliyaah Good, one of the young people currently enrolled in the cadet program, said she thinks it's important to be an advocate for the community.
“It’s more important to have people that look like us that are from the communities, to really implement what it is to be a true officer,” Good said.
At the opening event, District leaders spent time with some cadets and highlighted their new training facility. They also acknowledged that they're having trouble keeping up with the high number of officers who are retiring or quitting each year.
"We are at 3,460 officers; that is still well below where we want to be, the attrition rate in terms of people who are eligible for retirement that has remained steady," Contee said. "In fact, it has upticked a little bit. Right now we are just really trying to stay afloat while we get these additional folks in."
The department is offering incentives for current officers to stay and $20,000 bonuses for new officers.
D.C. hopes expanding the cadet program will help get the department to 4,000 officers in the future. As well as support recruiting more female officers like Good. This year's cadets are 50% women.
"Women as officers are needed in law enforcement because we have so many different situations and so many things that are coming up, that you know, women are needed to give a different perspective," Good said.
