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Farmington police report hiring gains, lay out training timeline
Summary
Chief Hebbie told the Farmington City Council the department has nine officers in field training and 12 recent hires, with two more expected, and outlined changes to recruiting and field‑training to prepare new officers for patrol next summer.
Chief Hebbie told the Farmington City Council on Oct. 11 that the Farmington Police Department has seen measurable progress in recruiting after multi‑year declines. "We had nine people right now in field training," Hebbie said, and added that the department has "12 hired right now" with two additional hires scheduled, and "the possibility for another between one and three or four still for the academy." He said laterals and targeted outreach helped increase applicant quality.
The council heard that the department is balancing short‑term staffing increases with training and supervision needs. Hebbie cautioned that larger classes create downstream demands on the academy and field trainers: "Then they come out of the academy, and you gotta put them in field training. So you have to have the trainers, and you have to be able to to manage all that." Deputy Chief Kyle Dowdy described internal operational shifts to prioritize recruiting, including allocating personnel to speed backgrounds while maintaining vetting standards: "We're still vetting them. We're just now putting more people doing that vetting process, so it sped it up."
City officials and councilors pressed for details. Mayor Nate Duckett and Councilors asked what was driving the shift; Hebbie cited a change in public sentiment and sustained community outreach. He described a typical timeline for new hires: many will enter the academy in January, the academy could run until mid‑June, followed by local post‑academy policy training and a 3.5–4.5 month field‑training period that would put most new officers into patrol around July–August the following year.
Hebbie credited a combination of recruitment tools — in‑house recruiting teams, social‑media targeting, attendance at community events such as National Night Out, and sign‑on bonuses — for recent gains while stressing the department has not lowered hiring standards. The council expressed broad support for the department’s approach and thanked staff for outreach efforts that also included partnerships with faith communities and neighboring jurisdictions.
