A team of six recruiters -- black and white, men and women, vets and younger officers -- spent months traveling to job fairs, colleges, military bases, churches, community centers and even malls, in Northeast Ohio and well beyond, to recruit candidates.
Treva Mathews is a 24-year-old on the team. She joined the department less than two years ago. She acknowledges the recruiting comes against a national backdrop of tension between parts of the African-American community and police. She said her response is simple.
"If you want to see a change, be the change," Mathews said. "If you think something is wrong with your community, be somebody to change that."
People from as far away as Toledo and Columbus traveled to Akron this week for informational meetings. The city has a dozen openings, but expects retirements will create more.
