State 'employed recruit' program aims to fill law enforcement posts

Nov. 18—TRAVERSE CITY — When Tony Taylor retired from the U.S. Army after 28 years, his options were wide open.

Taylor, 51, a lieutenant colonel who flew Black Hawk helicopters, took a job as a pilot, but had a change of heart after the pandemic furloughed him.

Taylor is now a student in the Northwestern Michigan College Police Academy and will graduate in May. If he passes his state licensure exams, he will likely have a job with the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department, where he spent the summer working as a seasonal marine deputy.

Under a new state grant program starting in January, Taylor could have been an "employed recruit" in which he would have been hired by the sheriff's department, had his tuition paid and drawn a paycheck while attending the academy.

Michigan's new Public Safety Academy Assistance Program aims to address the shortage of law enforcement officers across the state, including in northern Michigan. In all, $30 million has been earmarked for the 500 or so policing agencies in the state that are eligible for the funds.

Agencies can apply for up to $20,000 for each recruit, plus $4,000 in salary. The grant is good for four years or until the money runs out — whichever comes first, said Gail Kurowski, director of the NMC academy.

"Not only is the program more attractive to agencies, it is more attractive to students," Kurowski said.

The program also coincides with changes at NMC that will offer two full-time, 16-week academies per year — one in fall and one in spring — starting in fall 2023.

Each academy will have spots for 20 trainees for a total of 40 per year.

The police academy is now two part-time semesters that take about nine months to complete, with 10 to 15 people graduating per year.

Kurowski is hoping that the state program, along with the shortened academy, will pull in new students who, in the past, may have opted to go to 16- to 20-week academies held elsewhere.

GTC Undersheriff Mike Shea, a 2005 graduate of the NMC academy, has said the program will be a boost to the department, which earlier this year had several openings.

Shea attended the Michigan Sheriffs Association conference and, of the 70 counties represented, all but one or two were struggling with vacancies, he said.

"We are bleeding police officers," he said. "They are leaving the profession at an alarming rate."

Taylor and his family live in Kingsley, where his wife is a long-term substitute teacher.

"I want a job," Taylor said. "I like being part of a team; I like purpose and I like following the rules."

Taylor is originally from Chicago, where his younger sister has been a police officer since 2004 and his father spent 32 years on the force.

"He hoped that one day I would be a police officer," Taylor said.

The NMC academy has been around for 35 years and has never had an employed recruit, said Kurowski, who has been with the college for four years.

She was with the Michigan State Police for about 20 years, starting as a trooper and finishing in the recruiting and selection unit.

While many NMC students work to put themselves through school, employed recruits won't have to.

Another advantage they have is not being required to take a year of general education credits, Kurowski said.