Department set to rely on site

GLENDALE — There may be a citywide hiring freeze in effect, but when it thaws, the Glendale Police Department will be ready and waiting with a revamped website to attract new recruits.

City technicians worked with Glendale police to develop the website when the department was heavily recruiting for officers, Lt. Todd Stokes said.

The site took more than a year to complete.

“We are aware from our employment surveys that a vast majority of our applicants get their information from the Internet, and they look for jobs on the Internet,” Stokes said. “So we felt that our presence on the Internet, in terms of recruitment, was not where it should be.”

The bright blue website, called Join GPD, showcases a variety of photos of police officers at work.

The Police Department also created a short video with images of downtown Glendale, local churches, residents and the entire police staff.

Behrang Abadi, who works for the city’s Information Services Division, created the website.

“We’ve gotten pretty good about developing websites using industry standards,” Abadi said. “We just basically said, ‘What colors do you like and what pictures do you want us to use,’ and the rest was actually pretty easy.”

The website hasn’t had many hits since it was launched in early November, he said. The city used a soft-launch approach, which means the website was not advertised because no one can be hired.

People will likely start visiting the website more frequently when the Police Department can recruit officers again, Abadi said.

In addition to brief descriptions of facilities, equipment, technology and training, three Glendale police officer biographies described their work experience.

The website describes physical needs, including a 99-yard obstacle course and lifting and dragging a 165-pound dummy, which must be met in order to become an officer with the department.

Information included in the website was based on the questions potential recruits typically asked about the department, Stokes said.

“We tried to address all those most frequently asked questions on the website and to give everybody a realistic view of what the testing process is all about to try to make it more comfortable for them,” he said. “It’s not a secret. We want it out there for everybody to know what it takes.”

Police officials will try to update the website when they get more videos and biographies. When recruitment opens, police will advertise available positions and link the city’s online application system, he said.

According to a 2008 Glendale police report, the ratio of officers in the department is comparatively lower to neighboring police agencies. Glendale has a 1.3 officer ratio per 1,000 residents, while Burbank has 1.5 and Pasadena has 1.8, according to the report.

The city instituted a hiring freeze last year in the face of a multimillion-dollar budget deficit. Seven sworn officer positions were cut last year.

“Ultimately, we will one day be back in recruitment mode, and that will be a major part of the recruitment campaign,” Stokes said.