ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Rochester Police are trying to recruit new officers by asking their youngest officers what they like about the job. Their answers turned into a 30-second video that RPD shared with News10NBC Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean.

It’s a 30-second ad produced by the RPD and the City Hall Communications Office with real officers. Brean watched it with Sergeant Justin Collins, who runs the RPD’s recruiting team.

Berkeley Brean, chief investigative reporter: “What do you think when you hear that?” (Referring to the footage on the video showing RPD in action)

Sgt. Justin Collins, RPD: “I think that looks a lot like the Rochester Police Department.”

“That stuff is happening every single night,” Collins said. “Officers are running from call to call, they’re searching buildings, they’re driving pretty quickly in their police cars to get to calls.”

Brean: “How is this different from how you used to recruit?”

Sgt. Collins: “We tried a different approach this time, which I like. We brought in younger officers who came on the job recently and asked them what attracted them to the profession.”

They got the input of more than 20 officers and turned their answers into the video. In New York state last year, 3,000 police officers either resigned or retired. Only 2,300 were recruited. RPD has been understaffed for years. They have about 620 officers now. Fully staffed is about 720.

Brean: “Can you tell if it’s working?”

Sgt. Collins: “I don’t know if we’ll know until we’re done with the campaign. We have a couple of more weeks.”

“We hope that our officers do here is say, ‘Hey, you should come work for the Rochester Police Department,'” Collins said. “The pay and benefits are good. They treat you well. The job is definitely exciting.”

The deadline to apply to RPD is Sept. 4. More information is available here.

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