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Amid staffing shortage, Essex sheriff’s department lowers age requirements
New correctional officers now must be at least 19 years old. They previously had to be 21.
To address staffing shortages, the Essex County Sheriff’s Department is lowering the minimum age requirement for correctional officers to 19 years old.
A job posting for correctional officers says that new employees must be over 19 years old on their first day of employment.
Formerly, correctional officers had to be older than 21 to begin work, The Gloucester Daily Times reported. The change is set to go into effect Monday.
Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger told the paper that the change was being made with the hopes of mitigating a staffing shortage.
“We have a staffing issue we are doing our best to correct. This is a controlled environment and not a job you can do remotely,” Coppinger told the Daily Times.
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In addition to the change in age requirements, the department also appears to be placing a heavy emphasis on using the internet to advertise the open correctional officer positions.
A bright yellow banner appears near the top of the department’s home page. It advertises salaries of up to $68,000 a year and a $2,500 hiring bonus. Visitors to the website do not even have to scroll down before they are greeted with another banner, this one red, advertising hiring bonuses and job openings.
The department’s Twitter page also features multiple advertisements for correctional officer positions, and representatives from the department have attended career fairs at Northern Essex Community College in Lawrence.
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The department appears to have created an entirely new website dedicated to hiring. The website, www.workatessexsheriff.com, is full of information about the work of correctional officers.
No prior experience is needed, according to the job listings. Applicants must be at least 19, be American citizens, and have a valid license to carry a firearm. Applicants can be in the process of obtaining a license to carry during the hiring process, but must have a valid license before graduating from the training academy. Those hired while still younger than 21 must obtain a license upon reaching the age of 21, the legal cutoff for gun ownership in Massachusetts.
Typically, graduating classes of correctional officers consist of 30 to 35 people. But a class graduating this week is about half that size, the Daily Times reported.
Coppinger told the paper that staffing shortages are a problem at many law enforcement agencies nationwide due to “anti-law enforcement feelings.”
“Correctional officers are not just responsible for the care, custody, and control of inmates. They are responsible for helping those that come to us leave our facilities ready for life as a successful citizen — and we need more officers to continue to fulfill this mission,” Coppinger told the Daily Times.
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