From Staff Reports 

Asheville City Council on Dec. 14 approved a plan for the Asheville Police Department to enter into a $225,000 contract with a national recruiting firm to help boost APD staffing.

“‘Asheville Police Department is excited for the opportunity to partner with EPIC Recruiting in order to recruit outstanding candidates who want to join the APD team and serve the City of Asheville,’ said Chief Zack,” according to a City of Asheville press release dated Dec. 17. “‘We have some outstanding officers already serving at APD, but we certainly need more to help fill the ranks so that we can adequately serve the City of Asheville.’”

Specifically, council voted to allow the APD “to enter into a contract with EPIC Recruiting to create recruiting media, create a recruitment website, and strategize and market the City of Asheville and the department to recruit exceptional police applicants,” the release noted.

“ADP submitted a request for proposals about a month ago, and EPIC Recruiting was recently selected as the recruiting firm by the search committee; Council then needed to approve the plan moving forward.

“The police department currently has 60 vacancies of the authorized 238 sworn officer positions.”

The city press release added, “When you take into account officers either currently in training or out for medical issues, that number of vacancies swells to about 40 percent.”

Meanwhile, Capt. Brandon Moore of the APD’s Recruiting & Retention Division, was quoted in the release as saying, “We simply couldn’t go about business as usual of recruiting at local job fairs and informational and career events in our recruiting efforts because of our large number of vacancies

“We needed something more. By partnering with EPIC Recruiting, our goal is to not only hire the most qualified candidates to join the Asheville Police Department team, but to better diversify our workforce to best serve our community.”

The release added, “Moore also emphasized that recruiting and retaining highly qualified police officers will incorporate a holistic approach.”

The release then quoted Moore as saying, ““It’s not just the recruiting agency that will help boost our numbers, but it’s incumbent upon everyone — our police officers, city leadership, our community — to create an environment and show why someone would want to join the APD team.”

Zack concurred, according to the release, stating, “With the approval of our City Council to move forward with this contract, our city leaders show a commitment to public safety and how vitally important it is to have a well-equipped police department to serve the City of Asheville.

“Support from our city leadership, our businesses, and our residents is key to shaping a successful recruiting campaign.”

The city press release then stated, “EPIC Recruiting will develop a nationwide online recruiting campaign and create recruiting videos and a website to highlight the City of Asheville as a great place to live and the police department as a great place to work.

“APD leadership will finalize the contract and will meet with EPIC Recruiting in January to begin work on hiring and retaining qualified candidates for the Asheville Police Department,” the release noted.