Police seeking Armenian recruits

By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer (818) 546-3306 naush.boghossian@dailynews.com

GLENDALE -- The city has the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia itself, but Glendale's police are struggling to add Armenians to their ranks to better reflect the community's makeup.
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About 35 percent of Glendale's population of 200,000 is estimated to be of Armenian descent. But just 5 percent -- or 13 -- of the department's 257 sworn officers are Armenian.
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[...]the department has scant applications from Armenians, stemming mainly from a negative cultural perception of the profession: It's dangerous and it doesn't pay well.

In an effort to dispel such perceptions, the Police Department has begun actively reaching out to the Armenian community and local youth organizations.
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Neighboring Burbank -- which has three Armenian officers out of 159 sworn personnel -- said its focus is overall hiring for its leanly staffed department.

An estimated 8 percent of Burbank's 100,000 population is of Armenian descent.

"At this point, we're low on officers and we're looking for the best candidates," said Officer Vee Jones of the Burbank Police Department. "

Obviously, we do want the department to reflect the community, and we make every effort to do that, but now we're just targeting qualified candidates."
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