PHOENIX — For years, ABC15 has reported on the officer shortage that the Phoenix Police Department has been dealing with.
The department says right now they're about 560 officers short of their budgeted number of 3,125 officers.
Leaders are hoping to combat the problem by putting more of an emphasis on civilian positions like Police Assistants.
In March, the Phoenix Police Department started a separate training academy for Police Assistants.
The seven-week program is run by trainers like Maria Bustamante Hernandez. She's been a Police Assistant for two years.
"We did traffic control. They learned to do accidents. They learned criminal law, accident law, and they did some forensics. So, they did DNA. They learned how to take pictures. They learned how to do fingerprints. Things that would be useful for an investigation," says Bustamante Hernandez.
At the end of the academy, the department holds a formal graduation and swear-in ceremony.
Now, a few weeks removed from her Police Assistant graduation, Pricila Ortiz Gutierrez is hitting the streets with an officer as her trainer.
Before this, Gutierrez was a secretary at a local nonprofit, but she wanted to take her passion for serving the community to the streets.
"We're always out on the streets looking to see who needs help and we're always there to assist," says Gutierrez.
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Assistant Police Chief Bryan Chapman tells ABC15 the department is hoping by adding more civilian positions like Police Assistants, it can keep response times from getting too high.
"Our sworn officers are challenged every day with staffing and we're in a city 500 square miles, seven police precincts. It's really busy. Any sort of help is greatly appreciated," says Assistant Chief Chapman.
So what type of calls will Police Assistants respond to?
"You'll see them a lot in non-injury accidents, abandoned vehicles, found property, criminal property. Some of our lower level calls where there's not a suspect on scene and people just need resolution and a report. In addition to that, they are DNA certified, meaning they can collect DNA from crime scenes. They are trained in recovering latent fingerprints from crime scenes and they are trained in crime scene photography. So, when our officers are on another scene and they need somebody specialized, instead of calling the lab out or some other support staff, these Police Assistants come over and offer support to the officers as well. They're a jack of all trades. They're involved in a lot of things. They're embedded with the squads and they're very much a part of the family," says Assistant Chief Chapman.
Police Assistants are not armed, but they all have pepper spray, Narcan, ballistic vests, and body-worn cameras.
Their uniforms look similar to officers but they are a lighter blue color.
They cannot make criminal arrests, but they can issue civil citations.
Right now, Phoenix Police Department has over 130 Police Assistants who work in a variety of different areas like Transit or Community Enforcement and Patrols.
"We are civil servants and anything that you do to help your community is always gonna be a rewarding thing," says Police Assistant Bustamante Hernandez.
The department says this also provides a pipeline for younger people who want to protect and serve their community.
"Is this an introduction to perhaps wanting to become a police officer later?" asks ABC15 anchor Javier Soto.
"Yes. So, that's my end goal, becoming sworn and then ranking myself up to detective," says Gutierrez.
"What have you learned so far that really drives you, that lights that fire in you?" asks Soto.
"Just the people, your surroundings when you get back to the station. There's always support," says Gutierrez.
Phoenix Police Department will resume recruitment on June 8.
Anyone interested in learning more about the civilian positions or applying can head to JoinPHXPD.com.
