ST. LOUIS — It's something we've been talking about for awhile -- the city of St. Louis needs to hire more police officers.
Currently, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is down more than 100 officers.
Today the department held a rally in the hopes of finding some applicants.
The motto "Your career is just ahead" was plastered along signs in an effort to get more officers on the force.
"We didn't want to call it a job fair, because job fairs have been known to carry somewhat of a stigma. We're calling it a recruitment rally," said Sargeant Donny Walters.
The rally held at St. Louis police headquarters lasted from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Currently, the department is short 138 officers.
"It's really not an easy job but its no different than being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. That's not an easy job."
Walters is in charge of recruiting and community engagement. He said the department is not only having an issue recruiting.
They're also finding it hard to keep officers on.
"Our biggest hurdle is this residency rule," he said.
This city rule says anyone working for the city must live in the city.
That goes for all city employees.
Missouri lawmakers in Jefferson City are currently considering repealing the rule, something both Mayor Lyda Krewson and Chief John Hayden supports.
"Our officers do an incredible and dangerous job on a daily basis within the city under the most difficult circumstances," Hayden said in a recent news conference. "It should be their choice where they live, work and socialize."
The Ethical Society of Police also shared its sentiment with the following statement:
"We have concerns that people outside of the City of St. Louis will not care as deeply about the people who live there, but we also believe that everyone should live where they desire to live."
For anyone who would like to apply, officers say the best way to do that is in person at police headquarters, even if you apply online.
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