Columbus leaders aim to recruit more police, firefighters

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A major focus for Columbus city leaders is getting more police and firefighters on the streets than ever before.

On Tuesday, the Department of Public Safety was awarded a $1 million grant to help with first responder recruitment. Mayor Andrew Ginther's goal is to have a record number of police and firefighters on the street by the end of 2024.

He said right now that is true for firefighters – but not police.

“It is harder today to find folks who want to go into being a police officer or a firefighter than it was just 10 years ago and so we need to try new efforts innovative ways connecting with people and making sure that we are getting a force both on police and fire that reflects the beautiful diversity of this community and that's what this grant is going to help us do,” Ginther said.

He said we did just have a recent police class graduation and another one is coming soon.

Columbus police say it's been harder than ever to recruit police officers.

Deputy Chief Nicholas Konves said this grant will allow them to physically travel to meet young people where they are – in and outside of Columbus.

“Having this extra fund of money is going to allow us to reach out reach more social media platforms, commercials, make more visits and pay for travel going around to different colleges and universities,” Konves said.

This grant will also help to expand recruiting staff, develop recruit mentorship programs and better use technology.

NBC4 asked both the mayor and the deputy chief if they feel we currently have enough officers on the street to handle the demand. Both answered that they could always use more.