Auburn s police and fire departments are actively working toward bolstering their ranks.Â
The Auburn Police Department currently has seven vacancies, not including the upcoming retirement of a detective next month. The Auburn Fire Department has three spots to fill. Both agencies said they ve had potential recruits take tests recently, with plans to send people to their respective academies next month.
APD Lt. James Slayton, who runs the department s training, said 109 potential officers took a competitive police examination in September, and all of them passed. He noted that the 109 people who showed up in the fall was a drop from the over 180 people who took the test in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic meant the APD wasn t able to visit criminal justice classes and career seminars to recruit, as they normally would, but they still made recruiting efforts, he said.