(NewsNation) — As police departments across America continue to struggle to recruit and retain officers, a pair of departments in Southern Nevada are finding success.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and North Las Vegas Police Department have both seen upticks in recruitment recently, and they spoke to NewsNation about how they’re increasing their staffing.

Investing in experience

Instead of honing in on recruiting new young officers, the North Las Vegas PD has focused on lateral transfers — bringing in experienced police officers from other departments coast to coast.

That campaign includes up to $40,000 in bonuses, $5,000 of which comes in the form of a relocation bonus. Those with military experience can get an additional $5,000, and the rest of the $30,000 will be doled out in yearly increments after someone joins the department.

“We have interest from all over the country,” Cargile said, noting that they’ve recently brought on officers from New York, Maine, Washington and Tennessee.

Last winter, the department received around 60 applicants a month, said Lt. John Cargile, who helps oversee recruiting at the department. Today they’re getting around 180 applications a month, due to the lateral transfer campaign.

Selling the community

Cargile pointed to the region’s economy and general standard of living as helping drive recruits to his department.

“Our qualify of life I think is attractive to officers from out of state. Things like not having a local or state income tax, the affordability of housing right now, quality of life, access to outdoor activities… There’s a lot of things that are attractive especially to maybe Midwest or East Coast officers,” he said.

Last year, the U.S. Census Bureau listed North Las Vegas as one of the cities with the largest population increase since 2020; the city ranked fifth on the list. Between 2020 and 2022, the Southern Nevada region also saw one of the largest growths in job postings.

Las Vegas Police Sergeant of Recruiting John Deschutter said his department’s recruiting is now approaching pre-2020 levels; he credited the unique Las Vegas economy — which emphasizes tourism and entertainment — as one reason why.

He argued that it gives officers much more opportunity for overtime.

“Pretty much every weekend we may have five or six large events going on here that you can work,” he said.

Deschutter also pointed to strong community relations. He said officers at community substations are constantly making the pitch to join the department.

“They’re talking to the public at events, at churches, at calls, they’re constantly recruiting people and selling the job,” and it’s because of the trust that we have in the community of both public and private support,” Deschutter said.

Prioritized Policing

The Las Vegas police recently revived its cadet program, which takes 18 to 20-year-olds through a modified police academy that teaches them to handle low-priority calls. They might, for instance, help direct traffic at an accident scene, photograph evidence or interview victims or witnesses.

“It’s great for manpower and morale where officers can be free to go do the hot calls and high priority calls,” Deschutter said.

When the cadets reach 21, they’re automatically enrolled in the regular police academy. Deschutter said they have over 40 cadets working right now.

“The patrol officers love having them out there because it’s one extra person to free ’em up to go do the calls that need to get handled first,” he said.

Getting family buy-in

The city of North Las Vegas also works closely with the police department to try to attract not just potential police recruits, but their entire family.

“We understand that when most people come they bring their families with them. So we don’t just look for the law enforcement officer we look for the job for their spouses when they come in,” Cargile said.

During the recruitment process for a lateral hire, they ask the potential officer about what their spouse does. Then they look at vacancies among city positions to see if they can also find a spot for them.

“That’s a huge selling point that we actually have that type of growth within our city to be able to do that,” he said.