CLEVELAND — Cleveland police are looking to hire 250 new officers, and to help reach that goal, they joined fire and EMS officials, who are also making a push for new recruits, at a beauty salon last month.
There was a full house at Uniek Kreations on Saturday, Feb. 16 for the “Beauty, Badges and Bonding” event hosted by Cleveland Public Safety Recruitment. They have run similar events at rec centers and at the station, but finding a place where folks feel at home is what Sergeant Charmin Leon says is key.
“The beauty shops, hair salons and nail salons are places where the communities converge,” Leon said.
Leon says there’s plenty of people in Cleveland who are interested in becoming officers, firefighters and EMTs, but they don’t always pursue that interest.
“We're coming in and listening to the community's concerns about police and the community, firefighters and EMT's ‑ just have an open discussion,” Leon said.
Leon is hoping this event, and going directly to the source, will drive up recruit numbers.
Cleveland police say they'll set up shop again soon in hopes of keeping the conversation going.
