INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts and IMPD are teaming up to boost the department’s recruitment efforts as the department scrambles to deal with its lowest staffing levels ever.
On Tuesday night, attendance at the department’s Pre-Academy Readiness (PAR) program was higher than normal likely because of Colts center Ryan Kelly who stopped by to observe and chat with potential new officers.
Kelly’s father was a police officer in his native Ohio for more than 30 years.
“My father shared later in life of just how brutal this job can be but also how rewarding it can be,” Kelly said. “There is no person that puts the badge on every day that says I don’t love my community and want to make it better because you have to do that every day.”
After hearing about IMPD’s staffing woes, Kelly said he wanted to do whatever he could to help.
“We love and have seen so much of what Indianapolis can be,” Kelly said. “There’s bad everywhere you go, there’s evil, there’s crimes and the people that decide every morning to get up and wear that badge and protect us I think they should be commended and admired.”
IMPD leadership hopes Kelly’s celebrity and the platform of an NFL team can help boost their staffing number and extend the reach of their recruiting message.
“As we’re trying to recruit people from our hometown, what better way than to partner with our hometown team,” Chief Chris Bailey said.
Bailey said as of Tuesday they have 1,455 sworn officers and are budgeted to have 1,743.
During budget hearings earlier this year, Bailey said there are vacancies on shifts every day and while they’ve not had to slash services yet, they’re close to it.
Bailey said the city needs more than 2,000 officers to properly police it but the focus right now is on getting to the bare minimum.
“We want to get [taxpayers] the best recruits and we want to get them up to the number that they’ve given us money for which is 1,743,” Bailey said. “If we hit that number then we’ll be having a different discussion because it still won’t be enough to police the way we want to police.”
As part of its partnership with the Colts, IMPD recruitment messages can be seen around the stadium, in the gameday program and during the game’s radio broadcasts. Recruiters are also deployed at the games to connect with fans who may be interested in a career as a cop.
“When you have a representative like Ryan Kelly that loves our city and loves our profession it’s a great partnership,” Bailey said. “Our goal here is to get our message out that this is the best city to live in, this is the best place to raise your family and this is the best place to be a public servant.”
As the recruits and potential recruits get physically ready to become officers, Kelly said he hopes his presence can give them a morale boost to make it across the finish line.
“I think that’s a really admirable thing for these people to be here and to show them that as a professional athlete sometimes people look up to us but at the end of the day I look up to them,” Kelly said.
Anyone interested in exploring a career with IMPD can find more information here.
