Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Poise of an officer

Spotlight, center stage: William Huddler sits, military-stiff in a folding chair facing three Metro cops who are grilling the police recruit on his qualifications. Why should Huddler get to wear the badge, get to carry a gun, get to clasp handcuffs around the bad guy's wrists?

Enter Officer Antonio Munoz, stage left: "Look how he's dressed, look how he's postured, watch how he enunciates and answers these questions!" Munoz gestures to Huddler, the picture of police recruit perfection, sitting in dress slacks and black socks with his hands clasped at his lap.

The audience, a crowd of wannabe cops, cranes in. They're searching Huddler for The Secret, something in his outfit, his answers, his insouciant air - the combination of factors that add up to a Metro job offer. Only one in 10 applicants makes the cut, and recruiters are trying to hire at least 400 new officers each year for five years without compromising standards. This means that recruiting seminars such as the one held Wednesday night at the Clark County Library theater are taken very seriously. Every detail of the application process is spelled out until the obvious starts to sound like invaluable advice: Don't smoke during your interview. Don't wear sunglasses. Don't lie about that old speeding ticket. Don't try to trick the polygraph test by holding your breath.

Cut back to Huddler, hunched in his seat: An interviewing officer asks the applicant what he would do if a restaurant hostess offered to bump him ahead of a crowded waiting list because he's a cop. This is a standard integrity question, and every interviewing applicant can expect some variation on the theme.

Huddler's answer: He'd refuse, blushing. "I'd probably be embarrassed," he says. "But I'm sure there's a cordial way to handle it."

Metro recruiters get between 1,200 and 1,500 interested applicants every two months, Lt. Charles Hank says. Most are weeded out quickly - almost 40 percent of applicants won't even show up to take an initial written test.

"We are seeking the best," Hank says. "This is not a recruit mill. We are not compromising our standards. Just because you are breathing doesn't mean you're getting a gun."

Cut to Huddler's next question: "How would you describe deadly force?"

Huddler doesn't even stop to think.

"Any action or force that would result in a serious injury or death," he says.

The answer's correct, the subject crucial. Applicants who aren't prepared to use deadly force are automatically failed.

Cut back to Munoz, praising Huddler: "Shirt and tie, that's perfect," he tells the audience. "Hair, nails - all that counts. If you can't speak in front of three people, how can you expect to speak to suspects, victims?"

Members of the audience are taking notes. Many have been to these Metro preparation seminars once or twice before. Jessica Liedkie, 21, has been to four.

"I'm going to keep going until I get there," Liedkie says. She failed the written test once. She says she just wasn't well prepared. She'll test again next week.

Cue Sgt. Eric Fricker, stage right: Fricker steps onstage and calls Liedkie out of the audience, another example of an ideal police candidate, someone beyond eager to become a cop.

"We want to see that dedication," Fricker says, handing Liedkie a wooden plaque. "Challenge yourself to come back again."

The Clark County Commission approved a quarter-percent sales tax increase designed to put more police officers on the streets. Revenue from the tax hike, which took effect in October 2005, is divided between five county police agencies, with Metro taking the bulk. Its share was an estimated $62 million in 2006. Metro has 4,447 employees, including 2,170 police officers and 697 corrections officers. It's the seventh-largest police agency in the country.

With the money comes pressure to ramp up recruitment, and as more officers are hired, there's pressure to have more police academies. Metro has traditionally held four academies a year with 120 officers in each. In November, the department will start launching smaller academies every month. Gradually, they'll triple the size of the academy instructional staff.

"We have to keep up with the hiring and training rate we need," Hank said. "No other department is trying to hire as many as us."

Cut to Huddler, shaking hands with interviewers on stage: "I have a job," Huddler tells them. "I want a career."

On Wednesday, interested applicants thumbed through brochures in the library theater. Will Moyer, 23, waited with friends for the seminar to start. Moyer, a bartender, wants more excitement in his life.

"First I'm applying at Metro," he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "If I don't get in, then maybe the Border Patrol."

Of the applicants who show up for the written test, roughly 15 percent will fail. Of the applicants who make it to the next round, a physical test, roughly 30 percent won't pass. Those who make it past both written and physical tests are then subjected to the oral board, the interview Huddler and colleagues act out on stage. Between 10 percent and 15 percent of applicants won't pass the oral board. Those who do go on to the final and most selective portion of the application process - the background investigation.

Roughly 70 percent of applicants fail the background investigation, many because they lied to cover up something minor: an old speeding ticket or some such youthful indiscretion.

By the end of the recruiting process, those 1,200 to 1,500 hopefuls are down to 100.

New scene: A smaller crowd has gathered in a wing of the library theater complex. Enter background investigation Detective Henry Hoffman, standing alone onstage.

"Polygraph exams do work. Anything that you can imagine, we're going to ask you," Hoffman says. "But we're not out to hire perfect people. You don't have to be perfect. There are some things we can forgive. Just tell us."

Eventually, an audience member with cornrows raises his hand with a question: Is his haircut acceptable for the academy? (Yes.)

Enter Munoz from the wings, addressing the audience: "This is your last opportunity to sell yourself," he says. "We need more officers. We want you to succeed."

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