In late 2016, the police departments in Bloomington and St. Louis Park, Minnesota, worked together with the Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training Board and Hennepin Technical College to develop a collaborative police hiring program called the Suburban Law Enforcement Training Academy—Pathways to Policing, modeled after one used by the Minnesota State Patrol.

The program was designed to address a drop in the number of police officer applicants and to attract candidates of color, women, and others with nontraditional backgrounds. It particularly focused on candidates who were interested in a career in law enforcement, but lacked the means or ability to attend a law enforcement academic program while continuing their current careers.

The two departments worked together with their human resources departments to develop the program, then invited other agencies to participate. Eagan, Maplewood, Hastings, and the Metropolitan Airports Commission accepted the invitation.

To attract a diverse pool of applicants, the departments marketed the program aggressively in various communities and on several well-known job search websites. The cities also conducted information sessions enabling potential applicants to learn about the program. The sessions attracted nearly 500 applications.

Candidates who met minimum qualifications were offered a first-round interview. Panelists were trained to identify candidates who were interested in a law enforcement career and had unique qualities such as living or working with multicultural populations or those having experience providing service to customers with a variety of backgrounds.

Candidates who scored well during the initial round were invited back and given an opportunity to interview with the departments of their choice. After the second round of interviews, the participating departments conducted a final round of interviews and completed background investigations on the candidates they wanted to advance. Twelve candidates received job offers, and all were hired as trainees.

Once the candidates were hired, they attended a 17-week Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)-approved program through Hennepin Technical College. During the POST training, cadets were assigned mentors who met with them regularly to keep them engaged in their departments and provide support during the training.

Upon completion of the training, every candidate passed the POST licensing exam and returned to their respective agencies to be sworn in as police officers and begin traditional orientation and field training. As of January 2018, 12 candidates from six departments were receiving their field training. Overall, 67 percent of the new recruits are racially diverse and 50 percent are female. The departments look forward to continued collaboration in hiring.