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FPC recruiters outline expanded advertising and outreach for police hiring, spotlighting Spanish-language and community testimonials
Summary
FPC staff and Milwaukee Police recruiters described a multi-platform advertising plan — TV streaming spots with Fox 6 and CBS, bus ads across multiple counties, targeted social media and testimonials, Spanish-language outreach, and renewed emphasis on referrals and police‑aid pipeline — intended to increase and diversify police applicants.
FPC recruiters and Milwaukee Police Department staff told the Testing and Recruitment Committee on March 11 about an expanded, multi-channel recruitment and advertising plan aimed at increasing applications and diversifying candidate pools for police officer positions.
Staffers described partnerships with Fox 6 News and CBS for streaming TV advertising, targeted social-media and search advertising, bus advertisements in Milwaukee and nearby counties, and mall and theater placements. "Google Search... brought in about 39.52 percent of individuals who applied," recruiter Jordan Dickerson said, and recruiters reported referral, Indeed and Google as top sources of applicants in 2024. Recruiters said referral accounted for roughly 19% of applications last year.
The plan will lean more heavily on officer testimonials and community‑rooted creative. Recruiters said they filmed testimonial spots with officers who grew up in the city and plan targeted Spanish-language commercials with Officer Raul Ornelas. "While a household might be bilingual... the parents will receive that commercial in Spanish while the 18‑year‑old teen will receive it in English," Jocelyn Morales said, describing device- and language-targeted streaming advertising.
Recruiters also proposed expanding bus ads beyond Milwaukee to Waukesha and Racine and identified Mayfair Mall and movie-theater pre‑show ads as previously successful placements. They said podcast advertising (through iHeartMedia last year) delivered notable spikes in applications and that they will run a longer-duration, repeated-exposure campaign rather than a single broad blast: "We would rather reach 300,000 people and allow them to see a video or a commercial three to four times rather than 500,000 people seeing a commercial one time," Dickerson said.
The committee heard details about the police‑aid pipeline and compensation. Molly Keither Steele, staffing services manager, said police aids earn approximately $17.84 an hour ($1,427.46 biweekly, roughly $37,000 annually) with a 3% residency incentive for Milwaukee residents (about $37,513 annually). She said the majority of police aids historically progress to sworn officer status and that three current police‑aid participants have applied to become officers.
Recruiters described a newly implemented employee referral incentive: $500 for city employees and either an eight‑hour shift of extra vacation or cash/pay for police union members when a referred candidate is hired. Staff said the FPC plans to include the recruitment plan in a footnote to this year's budget and will submit a fuller plan to the Common Council next week.
Commissioners offered suggestions — including targeting graduations, college career centers and using local graduates in testimonial spots — and cautioned against overly militarized imagery in ads. Staff said they will incorporate commissioners' feedback as they finalize materials. No formal vote was taken; staff said they will incorporate the presentation into a recruitment plan to be submitted to the Common Council.
