Lorain police look to start cadet program allowed under new state law

LORAIN — Lorain police plan to start a cadet program to attract recent high school graduates to law enforcement careers. House Bill 44, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday, allows local police departments to create a cadet program as a pipeline for new officers. The program was a "pet project" of former Lorain Police Chief Jim McCann, Mayor Jack Bradley said — with McCann and Assistant Law Director Joe LaVeck testifying in support in 2024. Then-House Bill 241 would have allowed statutory cities like Lorain to hire officers without a Civil Service exam and for local departments to offer in-house police academies. The legislation stalled in the Senate Veterans and Public Safety Committee without a vote to the floor before the end of the session. "The law enforcement service is in a recruitment crisis with no viable solution," McCann said at the time. "If we as a state do not find a way to creatively deal with this issue, we will have no choice but (to) lower the standards just to recruit entry-level police officers, jeopardizing public safety." The bill failed to cross the finish line during that general assembly and was reintroduced by state Reps. Joe Miller, D-Amherst, and Kevin Miller, R-Newark, earlier this year. Now, as House Bill 44, the legislation seemingly sailed through both chambers with bipartisan support and went to the governor's desk this week. Bradley attended the bill's signing. "We know there is a shortage of young people pursuing jobs in law enforcement and we think this will help us in recruiting 18-to-20-year-olds that (previously) find employment elsewhere or somehow disqualify themselves when they have to wait until they're 21," Bradley said. The new legislation also allows for the hiring of officers without competitive Civil Service exams if the exam is deemed unnecessary and the applicant has "exceptional qualifications." Charter cities already have the ability to hire officers in this manner. Lorain's cadet program, once up and running, will allow recent high school graduates to work part-time in the department while enrolled at Lorain County Community College for an associate's degree and later the police academy, Chief Michael Failing said. While working for the LPD, cadets would receive training and work shifts in records or dispatch – where an employee only has to be 18-or-older – and receive hands-on training in police work through ride-alongs. The goal would be that once out of the police academy, the cadets would bypass the Civil Service exam and be hired into the department for a minimum of five years. As rookies in the department, they would still have to spend time with field training officers, Failing said, but already would have training on report writing and departmental policies that new hires without the cadet program do not. The cadet program also would pay for the person's schooling and police academy training, Failing said, so long as the cadet remained with LPD after graduating for at least five years. The catch, for Lorain police and other departments looking to kickstart a cadet program, may be the cost. House Bill 44 does not provide a funding mechanism from the state for the program. Failing estimated the police academy costs about $7,000 per recruit, plus the cost of an associate's degree from LCCC and the $18-to-$20-an-hour part-time salary. He estimated it would be "easily" a $15,000 investment or more into each cadet, and he would want to see two to three cadets per year once the program was in place. Bradley said he spoke to the state's director of public safety about the funding gap. 'They certainly said they would try to help us in any way they can," the mayor said of state officials. The city's police levy could pick up the tab, as it does for any of its salaries past 90 officers, or grants may be available, Failing said. The department currently has 97 officers in its ranks, he said, but has dipped as low as 92 in recent years. "It's significant, but we're getting a five-year guaranteed officer out of it, we'll get our money back with the experience," the chief said. The hope is the cadet program would allow the department to have a built-in pipeline for replacements of retirees or officers who leave for other departments, he said, as LPD averages about two to three retirements or separations each year. "There's an influx without any testing, there's an influx coming in and an influx going out," he said. "And then if I know we have five guys retiring three years down the road, I know I need to plan for five cadets, three years earlier." Failing hopes the program will be up and running by the end of next year. There will be an application and background process, he said, and preference will be given to Lorain residents. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.