BUFFALO, N.Y. — A new billboard has been visible in downtown Buffalo over the past few weeks.
Unlike the other advertisements in downtown, this one doesn’t serve Buffalo, but rather a city over 75 miles away.
Rochester Police Department placed an advertisement in Buffalo’s center to try to address their recruitment shortage and attract applicants from other cities in New York. The department says their recruitment numbers have been so scarce that just a few weks ago, they were approved to offer a second police exam on March 2.
“Our department is currently about 100 officers short,” said Greg Bello with Rochester PD. “We’ve been very heavily recruiting the last couple of weeks since we found out about [the exam].”
The billboard points to Rochester’s $102,651 salary after 44 months, which when compared to Buffalo’s is almost $24,000 higher.
Bello wants to make clear despite the advertisement’s placement, they are not trying to steal officers from Buffalo PD. Rather, they are looking to recruit new applicants to the force.
“This isn't some competition with Buffalo PD or any of the police departments around Buffalo,” he said. “We're presenting an opportunity that's right up the street from people.”
John Evans, the president of Buffalo’s police union, said he knows of younger potential officers from the Buffalo area planning to take the test in Rochester. He said he isn’t surprised by that choice.
“[Buffalo PD is] going to have to give paid health care in order to attract applicants to this job,” he said. “I think they're going to have to lift their residency requirement.”
Until we see those changes in Buffalo, Evans said it will only cause more potential recruits to follow the billboard right out of town.
“I think there will come a time where the city realizes that they are going to have to do something, and incentivizing the job is going to be one of those things,” Evans said.
The billboard will be up until the exam registration deadline Friday. Rochester PD said it has already seen about 700 people register.
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