STATESBORO, Ga. () — The Statesboro Police Department is just two swearing-in ceremonies away from being fully staffed for the first time in decades.

“Seventeen for us at our site is a lot,” Broadhead said.

Seventeen open positions out of 79 might not seem like a major gap, but for a department that operates 24/7, even a small shortage can take a big toll.

“Our patrol officers are responding call to call to call. It just wears them out,” Broadhead said. “So, if you can get just one more officer in that mix, it starts to make it a little bit lighter on everybody else.”

At the start of last year, Statesboro Police increased officer salaries and offered signing bonuses of up to $10,000. This month, Broadhead said those efforts are finally paying off.

“Our responsibility really is to find really good people and get them in the door and then treat them right, support them, back them and train them, equip them properly so that they can go out and do that job and so that they’re not looking for other places to work,” he said.

Broadhead said attitudes toward policing have shifted in recent years, making recruitment more difficult for departments across the country. To adapt, they’ve had to seek out new talent pools.

“Women are the untapped resource for police recruiting. They make fantastic police officers,” he said. “Women have proven that they can do this job very effectively.”

Nearly half of the department’s total staff, including non-sworn employees, are women. Broadhead said they’ve also had success with an internship program, giving young recruits a path into law enforcement.

“We train probably more than anybody else in the region, and I think that’s really helpful for young people entering the profession,” he said. “They want to make sure they don’t get thrown to the wolves… That’s the first way we can prove to them that we’re here for them. We’re not going to put them in a position they’re not trained or equipped for because we’re gonna put the time in to make sure they get trained.”

To keep up with normal turnover, the department is now “over-hiring” by four officers at a time, keeping them in their back pocket in case of any staff changes.