BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The Bowling Green Police Department held an open house on Tuesday to recruit dispatchers and police officers. 

Deputy Chief Penny Bowles said working with the department is a great way to giving back to Bowling Green’s community.

“It’s a way for people with a servant’s heart, with the community’s mind to be one of two,” Bowles explained. “Some people [who] can’t be police officers make great dispatchers, and vice versa.”

But Captain Geoffery Glietz says it is important for new applicants to not have a wrong impression about the duties of being an officer.

“It’s not what you see on TV,” Glietz said. “Be prepared to learn. There’s a whole lot to this job that goes beyond the equipment you see on us.”

More than making arrests or traffic stops, Glietz said the most important skill is communication.

“One of the most important things is our ability to communicate [with] people—conflict resolution, de-confliction and help people deal with issue that they may call us for. We’re here to support the community.”

One applicant, Jimmy Hoffman, said it’s been a dream to become a police officer since he was a child. 

“I knew I wanted to be a police officer when I was a kid and then I ended up joining the Army, which I saw it more of a stepping stone to becoming a police officer,” Hoffman said. 

Hoffman said that it’s an effort to help better the community he lives in by building mutual trust.

“To help the community that I’m living in—that’s pretty much my end goal,” Hoffman said. “I want people to be able to trust the police officers that they are paying to do their jobs.”

“I know the job they have isn’t an easy one. I know it’s very complicated, and it’s hard. They make tough decisions sometimes. I respect people that can make those decisions in life.”