Beverly Hills Police Department Hires 5 New Officers

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Five new officers were sworn in Monday, officially starting their tenure with the Beverly Hills Police Department.

Among the new hires is one entry level officer who just finished Orange County Sheriff's Regional Training Academy Class #246 and four lateral police officers, who have served at least one year as police officers.

Each of the officers will now train with BHPD before they go out on their own.

"We want people that have a service attitude. We want people that come to Beverly Hills to be prepared to serve the community, to meet the expectations of the community — not just the residential community but the business community," said Lt. Giovanni Trejo, public information officer for the department. He added: "We want the people that we select to have a wide spectrum of experience. Not necessarily police experience, but life experience."

The new officers come not a moment too soon, as officers have been overworked and burning out for months, Trejo said.

"Every time we hire anyone — even one police officer — to the rank and file is a reason for celebration. We have a work force that has been overworked in the last few months, to say the least. And so one way to manage the burnout factor that we may be experiencing is to add more numbers to the rank and file," Trejo said. "The hiring of five officers gives all of us, the entire workforce, hope for the future that we'll be able to get some rest."

Trejo said that protests and other activity on weekends has meant many employees have been losing their time off.

The hiring process for the department takes around three to six months, Trejo said, as officers must complete psychological evaluation, background checks and more.

The fact that these officers are being sworn in amid high profile crimes, like two attempted burglaries in the Business District and the fatal shooting of Jacqueline Avant, is a welcomed coincidence.

These incidents were not the impetus for the hirings, Trejo said, though the timing is certainly helpful.

"There is no way to tell, when we finally select an employee to start going through the process, there is really now way to say how long the process will be. [It's] coincidental, however it is timed perfectly," Trejo said.

Trejo said the department has been hiring nonstop for the past couple of years, and is still looking to hire more lateral and pre-service officers.