Not that long ago an Omaha man who was on police radar for a possible sexual assault, applied for a job with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.

He didn’t get it, but according to police, with law enforcement agencies in Nebraska and across the country struggling to fill their ranks, the type of folks applying for jobs isn’t what it used to be.

[View our full video report above]

Responsible, for among other things, courthouse security when it comes to recruiting and hiring new officers, the Douglas County Sheriff’s department recently pulled back the curtain on some of the nuts and bolts, telling the County Board that the recruiting bar is not what it used to be.

Chief Deputy Willliam Rinn, Douglas County Sheriff: “In years past, with all the applicants we would get you would have to have minimum scores in the high 90’s, with a cut-off score around 85 just to get an interview with the Sheriff’s office, now anybody who passes over 70 percent will get an interview.”

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Police manpower problems followed the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd, Omaha Police taking a huge hit, OPD down nearly 11 percent of its fully authorized strength.

Police Chief Todd Schmaderer, Omaha: “The Omaha Police Department along with law enforcement agencies across the country are facing a national hiring and retention crisis. As of today, the Omaha Police Department is down 99 officers.”  [Police Budget Okayed by City Council, 9/14/23]

Joe Jordan, NCN: “How does a department function 99 officers short?”

Chief Schmaderer: “Well, right now we’re functioning just fine because we intervene with some management interventions and streamline our workload. We’re not seeing any degradation in our crime stats and our response time. However, like I’ve said I think we’re on borrowed time with that.”

Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson: “They’re 100 officers down, and we’re not in as bad as shape as them, so when they ask for help, we are happy to oblige.”

Douglas County, with a fully budgeted strength of 151 officers is currently at 144, seven down, 4 percent, and that’s despite those hiring challenges.

Chief Deputy William Rinn: “I actually walked a gentleman out of the building because he in his application and his interview disclosed that he’s on an actual sex assault protection order. This is the type of applicant we sometime get, where they don’t see the problem with their background, and they just go ahead and apply.”

Looking to put more officers on the street, in the next few months, the starting pay for Omaha Police Officers jumps from $50,000 to $70,000. In the meantime, OPD just added 18 new recruits, when they hit the streets OPD will have a reported 821 officers, but that’s still 85 short.