The number of vacant police jobs throughout New Hampshire has increased by more than 300 unfilled positions in the last year, leaving police chiefs to try to raise wages and improve law enforcement culture to better retain their employees.
Since the beginning of 2022, the number of sworn officers statewide – including all municipalities, cities, universities, security guards and state police – have decreased from 4,351 officers to 4,028, which is a decrease of nearly 8% in one year. Merrimack County has lost 7% of its officers, bringing the number of patrolmen down from 326 to 303 in 12 months.
“I think this is the most perplexing question that law enforcement across the country is facing right now,” said John Scippa, director of the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council. “A lot of people considered law enforcement at one time but, with the way things are right now, they’re not signing up and instead are going into the private sector.”
The political climate of policing has continued to change, potentially discouraging young workers from choosing a career in law enforcement, which has caused departments nationwide to struggle with recruitment. Local departments are trying to increase their wages to stay competitive with their larger counterparts, which puts a higher burden on taxpayers.
As vacancies across the county increase, many local departments are looking to increase the number of officers they can have on their force and retain officers by...
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