Huntersville Police Department organizes hiring event to address staffing shortage

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — The Huntersville Police Department currently has just under 100 officers and is seeking to hire 25 more, despite offering competitive starting salaries of $61,000.

The town of Huntersville, with an estimated population of more than 67,000 residents, has been facing challenges in recruiting police officers.

Chief Brian Vaughan attributed this difficulty to a significant drop in interest compared to previous years, stating that 25 years ago, there would be about 100 applicants for one job, whereas now there is only one job with just five interested candidates.

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Vaughan, who oversees the Police Department, expressed his hopes for increased recruitment following a requested pay increase for officers.

“When I took over as Chief of Police, I immediately went to our board and asked for a significant pay increase in order to impact those numbers of getting people to come and be interested in our department, and almost immediately, we saw an impact on the number of applications we received,” Vaughan said.

Despite the higher salaries, the department still has more than 25 open positions, which has repercussions for various roles within the department.

“If I took patrol officers off the street to fill those school resource officer positions, you’re actually going to impact response times to a lot of emergencies, including to those schools. And so this is a capacity thing right now,” Vaughan added.

Daniela Santiago, a recruit in the department currently undergoing training, expressed her enthusiasm about her upcoming role.

“I’m super excited to just get out and talk to people and kind of make a difference in people’s lives and how they view police officers,” Santiago said.

To address the staffing shortage, the Huntersville Police Department has organized a hiring event scheduled for Jan. 31, where applicants can take exams and undergo background checks.

Those interested in applying must register in advance for the event, which will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Julian Clark Avenue in Huntersville.

The hiring event will allow attendees to learn more about the application process, meet current officers, and take the first steps toward becoming a member of the Huntersville Police Department.

For more details, please visit the department’s website.

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