It used to be that the Idaho Falls Police Department only needed to test applicants once a year.

Fifteen years ago, hundreds of people would apply to become a police officer, whether it was out of a sense of community or a desire for a consistent job.

Today the department tests applicants multiple times a year. There are about 20 applicants each time, and maybe two of those will meet the standards to become officers.

Law enforcement has become a less popular career in recent years, forcing departments to scramble for the few applicants who meet a higher standard. Police have been able to keep up with retirements, but several law enforcement offices have struggled to keep up with the growth necessary for rising populations.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police has identified maintaining employment numbers as the biggest challenge facing law enforcement.

"A readily available workforce enabled many police leaders to ignore the importance of recruitment," a guide on recruitment and retention provided by the association states. "Today, employers nationwide, including police departments, report having difficulty attracting and retaining sufficient numbers of employees."

In the aftermath of the 2020 nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd, departments saw a spike in retirements. According to the Police Executive Research Forum, a 2021 survey found a 45 percent increase in retirements by officers nationwide and an 18 percent increase in resignations.

That same survey found the average law enforcement office is operating with 7 percent of its officer positions unfilled.

Both the Bonneville County Sheriff 's Office and the Idaho Falls Police Department have been relatively lucky, as they have only 5 percent and 3 percent of their positions unfilled, respectively. However, forthcoming

retirements loom large for both agencies.

At the Bonneville County Sheriff 's Office, 20 percent of the law enforcement officers will be eligible for retirement within the next five years.

Earlier this year the Idaho Falls Police Department warned city councilors that there could be as few as 75 officers on duty by the end of the year. That scenario has been avoided, according to Chief Bryce Johnson, who said seven recent hires have increased the officer staff to 90, though it will decline again. Three officers are expected to retire in the coming months, and four more will be eligible for retirement in the next eight months.

The department is authorized for 98 sworn officers.

Bonneville County Sheriff 's Office Public Information Officer Sgt. Bryan Lovell said his office also has to compete with the private sector, as officers sometimes leave for private security jobs or to pursue other careers. Johnson said stronger economies tend to result in police leaving for new opportunities. Police recruitment can grow during a recession due to the desire for a steady job, but Johnson said there was no uptick with the economic challenges that came with the COVID-19 pandemic.

And both agencies also have to recruit against other law enforcement agencies for both new and experienced officers in a market that has in some ways become a bidding war. Earlier this year, Idaho Falls Police Capt. Joel Tisdale told the council that at any given time job recruiting websites have a total of about 1,000 police openings and that about half of them offer a sign-on bonus.

Johnson said the department recently changed its benefits policy to encourage experienced officers to join. Experienced officers can start with a higher salary than brand new officers, but before the department only counted a maximum of five years of experience. It recently changed its policies to raise their starting pay based on a maximum of 10 years of experience.

This year, the department increased its starting pay for rookie officers by more than $4,000 to $49,878 per year and for lateral officers with five years experience the department's starting pay is $56,368.

Those changes were to address concerns of lateral officers about the growing cost of the housing market in Idaho Falls, which the department cited as a factor that made it more difficult to recruit officers.

In addition to sign-on bonuses many similar sized cities in the Intermountain West start their officers at considerably higher salaries than Idaho Falls offers.

Casper, Wyoming, population 59,000, starts entry-level officers at $56,200 — that's $8,000 higher than Idaho Falls pays entry-level officers and there's no state income tax in Wyoming. Additionally, the Casper Police Department is offering sign-on bonuses up to $12,500.

The police department in Great Falls, Montana, (population 58,000) starts officers at $60,000 and within two years bumps them up to $72,000.

South Jordan, Utah, (population 77,000) also offers a $56,000 starting wage as well as $5,000 a year in tuition assistance and year-for-year salary and vacation matches for lateral transfers as well as a 401(k) match.

A job posting for the Twin Falls Police Department states an applicant can receive a $500 bonus with their first paycheck. They can receive an additional $500 for completing field training and $1,000 if they stay with the department for a year.

The Idaho Falls Police Department is considering sign-on bonuses to help cover the moving costs for new hires, which could begin in October. A final decision on bonuses has not been made by Johnson and the City Council.

Money allocated toward bonuses could also be used for a pay increase, Johnson said, providing incentives for more experienced officers to stay. That's an important consideration, the International Association of Police Chiefs warns a loss of experience can be just as devastating as a loss of manpower.

"If agencies are not able to address this issue, a serious imbalance will form in many departments between the number of experienced officers and newer recruits," the recruitment and retention guide states. "As a result, the average years of experience for patrol officers will drop significantly. Over time, agencies with higher turnover and less experienced officers will suffer a reduction in productivity and lower quality of service delivery."

The Idaho Falls Police Department says it has avoided lowering its standards to keep up with the personnel needs. Even as the number of applicants has declined, the department has put more emphasis on background checks and psychological exams to make sure an applicant will be able to handle an increasingly stressful job.

"It's actually become harder to become a police officer," said Jessica Clements, public information officer of the Idaho Falls Police Department. "That has gotten more selective, if anything."

Maintaining those standards has been important at a time when police have faced growing criticism for use of force and officer involved shootings.

"Those things weigh on the mind of everybody in this profession," Lovell said.

Both Lovell and Johnson said they believe the scrutiny is a factor in the decline in applicants, either because would-be applicants are more critical of law enforcement, or are concerned about becoming the subject of that criticism.

Lovell said he hoped those potential applicants who are on the fence about a law enforcement career would still apply and work to address those concerns through example.

"If there are problems in this profession, we want people who are problem-solvers," Lovell said.