Richmond Police see success with re-hire program

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Detective Bobbie Jo Plaskett is more than happy to return to her desk inside Richmond’s Police Department.

“It’s been great to be back, just to be back with all the people I was here with for years. Just kind of felt like home when I came back,” said Det. Bobbie Jo Plaskett, Richmond Police Dept.

She’s been back on the force for a year and a half as part of a re-hire program. Detective Plaskett said the decision to leave years ago was difficult, but the pay was too low at that time.

“I, unfortunately, had to make the decision to leave and take up another job for another department just because money was tight; I had a growing family,” said Det. Plaskett.

Following a pay bump for officers, Police Chief Rick Edwards launched the re-hire initiative.

To date, the department is still short more than 150 officers. The department is authorized to have 755 officers on the force.

“I’m an old beat cop at heart, and so I decided to give it a shot, and here I am out on the sidewalk,” said Officer Lewis Mills, Richmond Police Dept.

Officer Lewis Mills is back on patrol along Broad Street in Richmond’s Jackson Ward. He spent 26 years working for Richmond Police before retiring. But now Mills is back, on a part-time basis, to help plug staffing holes.

“And I just decided to give it a try. It was a new chief, and he was going some new things,” said Officer Mills.

The department now has 13 part-time sworn re-hires, including Officer Mills. Nine have already passed the required training and have been assigned into five groups. Those include patrol, traffic, inspections/audits, warrants, information, and regulatory oversight.

Currently, there are five more lateral candidates in the training academy, like Detective Plaskett.

“I know a lot of other people, not just part-time or retirees, coming back but other people who left the department to go to different departments, the same as the kind of my story. None of us really wanted to leave,” said Det. Plaskett.

The 127th Basic Recruit Class is scheduled to graduate in March, yielding another 12 employees. The 128th Basic Recruit Class began earlier this month and is 16 recruits strong.

You can call (804) 646-6733 to apply.