AKRON, Ohio — A record number of women are participating in the Akron Police Department's current cadet academy class, with the department saying diversity is just one of several recruitment efforts they're improving.
Akron P.D. Community Relations Sgt. Michael Murphy Jr. said that 15 female cadets are in the current class, the most they've ever had. The women make up about 30% of the class, which is much higher than the 10 percent of female representation currently on Akron P.D.'s actual force.
Cadet Meliza Martenez told 3News women are just as qualified as men.
"We are trying to demonstrate that we can do things that society sometimes says, 'Oh, that's not for a female,' but we're able to demonstrate that we are able to de-escalate situations and talk to people and perform the job like a man, too," she said.
Cadet Gwenn Phillips called women an invaluable asset.
"Sometimes when there's a woman present, it just feels less scary at times," she expressed. "When people are calling the police, they're usually going through some of the worst times in their life and sometimes they just need a calming presence, and often women can offer that in a different way that men can."
Out of the 48 current cadets, eight are Black, two are Hispanic, and one is Asian.
Cadet Boo Tway is of Burmese descent and hopes to be a bridge for relations with immigrants.
“It's scary when you're first in America and not being able to speak English and an officer coming up to you and asking you questions and you're not able to respond because of how scared you are," he said.
About 15 percent of Akron P.D. officers are black, compared to the 30 percent of black people that live in Akron according to the U.S. Census.
Murphy said their team values diversity and are pushing to make their force better reflect what the Akron community looks like.
“The vast majority of our force is made up of white males,” Murphy said. “I think we've been very intentional about having our recruiting team mimic what we're trying to build, mimicking the community by giving the candidates the ability to see themselves within the recruiting team.”
More than 1,000 people applied to be in this academy class. Murphy said the department is upping efforts to communicate with applicants.
“One area that we're looking to improve upon would be maintaining more contact with our candidates earlier on through the process," he explained. "Historically, when a candidate applies, there'll be a two-to-three-month window before they take the written test. Our plan moving forward is to have ongoing contact with those candidates throughout the process so that from the time that someone applies all the way through the background investigation process, they're in contact with one of our officers. We lose candidates from time to time whether they decide to go to another police agency, or they've decided to pursue another career. We lose people throughout the process for various reasons.”
They're also making sure to fight against some of the negative perceptions towards police in recent years.
"Anytime there's an officer-involved incident or an incident that does not play out well for us in the media, it ultimately does affect our recruiting efforts, but I think one of the ways that we combat that is in our personal everyday interactions with the public," Murphy said. "And that's not even just from a recruiting standpoint. Those are from the interactions that our patrol officers have on an everyday basis, which then changes people's perception of how they view the Akron Police Department."
When 3News asked several of the current cadets about negative police perceptions, they told us they are very aware of them.
"You see the stuff, the negative perceptions, and you want to be a part of the change that changes those negative perceptions,” said cadet Zachery Romano.
This cadet class is expected to graduate sometime around mid-August.
Murphy reports there are about 430 officers currently on Akron P.D.'s force. When they factor the new recruits they'll get this year, plus upcoming retirements and resignations, they expect to be sitting around 450 by the end of the year. The department has a budget for 488 officers.