[ad_1]
The Fort Worth, Texas, Police Department took a car-salesman-style approach in its latest recruitment video — and it paid off. It quickly went viral since going live in early October and has attracted hundreds of applicants.
In the hilarious video, Officer Buddy Calzada introduces himself as “Big B” and shows off a number of police cars while wearing a cowboy hat and encouraging applicants to apply. He also mentions the department’s Mounted Unit, training and trade-in opportunities in his “sales pitch.”
“We’re hiring and we got it all. We got your patrol vehicles, we got your Explorers, we got your Tahoes and we even got your F150 Responders. Say what!?” Calzada says.
All the actors featured in the video are active Fort Worth police officers.
“It was just fun. We have a great team here,” Calzada said of the video.
The Fort Worth P.D., which was established nearly 150 years ago and has around 1,700 police officers, is currently looking to fill 100 vacancies.
“Yes, this is a silly video, but this is a very real video,” Sergeant Amy Heise said. “We need good people to apply to our department. We know a lot of other agencies are recruiting officers right now.”
Calzada told Fox News that the applications started pouring in soon after the recruitment video was shared online. He said the department has received more than 300 applications, and that the video has so far received over a million views.
“Our number-one job was to get the attention of people and have recruits sign up, and it is working. We have been overloaded, and it is a great thing,” Calzada said.
According to Calzada, the department is also looking for experienced officers from different departments — both in state and out of state — and will put them through a special lateral training program instead of making them start from scratch. “Don’t be mad if we pull them in from where you’re at, all the way here to Fort Worth,” he joked.
For more information, visit https://police.fortworthtexas.gov or contact recruiting@fortworthtexas.gov.
[ad_2]
