Police departments across the country are turning to newspaper classifieds and social media to advertise open positions, in a desperate bid to fill ranks decimated by the defund the police movement.

The downturn in recruitment has led some departments to even lower their education standards and others are now willing to hire ex-pot heads and former users of other drugs in order to draw in prospects. 

'With fewer police on the beat, and with a meteoric rate, the safety of all Americans is in jeopardy,' one top law enforcement official told DailyMail.com:

'Police departments need to do all they can to end this national crisis.'

In Fort Worth, Texas, the local police force has taken a humorous approach to its hiring, producing a now viral recruitment video parodying a car dealership ad. 

The hilarious clip shows officers flaunting their policing toys - from armored vehicles to motorcycles and horses - complete with balloons and even a cop playing a tube man.

The Fort Worth Police Department took a humorous approach in its recruitment practices last month, releasing a now-viral video parodying a car dealership ad seeking applicants 

The hilarious clip shows officers flaunting their policing toys  from armored vehicles to motorcycles and horses - complete with balloons and a cop playing a tube man

The recruitment video is one of several unconventional steps police departments across the country are now taking to draw in candidates 

The video soon went viral on social media, bringing in several hundred applications in a just a few days.

The sharp rise in police resignations and the growing shortfall in recruitment has largely been attributed to the Defund the Police movement and anti-cop campaigns triggered by the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

Other reasons, however, include woke new laws restricting police work, and fear of the nation's soaring crime rate, officials told DailyMail.com. 

As a way to stem the tide, small town and big city departments where retirements are up, recruitment is down and crime is high, are offering all kinds of seductive incentives.

Inducements include whopping signing bonuses, colossal salaries and generous perks - from paid education for family members to moving expenses, to full-time use of a patrol car when off-duty, and more.

Among the agencies that are trying to do something about the problem:

• ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO: The police department is pitching a whopping $10,000 signing bonus and a cost-free perk - a 'take home vehicle' - a cruiser to use when off-duty, and as a crime deterrent.
• PEMBROKE PINES, FLORIDA: The force is touting the Sunshine State's weather as a per.
  
  'Begin a career in sunny South Florida,' it says in its advertising, with a sign-on bonus of $5,000, as much as a '$5,000 relocation bonus with housing assistance,' and a current 'top out pay' of $90,875.
• HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA: Besides a whopping $5,000 signing bonus - the police department is offering 'scholarships for dependents to attend private school'. 
• LAPD: Located in America's second biggest city with soaring crime and a high police department vacancy rate, the department is offering new certified candidates financial assistance of up to $1,000-a-month for up to 24-months to pay their rents in a program called 'Housing For Hires.' As one official declared: 'We can't hire enough.'
• SUFFOLK COUNTY, LONG ISLAND, NY: Faced with vacancies and rising crime, the force began advertising for new applicants in a newspaper's classified section this month, with the slogan 'Make who you are, who we are, too.
  
  Secure your future and ours.'
• UNITED STATES PARK POLICE: The US National Park Service is calling on candidates to 'join our team,' and 'work out on duty,' in such high-crime cities as Washington, D.C., New York, and San Francisco. 
• NORWALK, CONNECTICUT: An upscale commuter suburb of New York City, 'certified police officers' who join the department can earn as much as $106,704 annually - and is encouraging 'female and minority applicants' to join its force.

In Norwalk, hiring and retaining cops has become more difficult despite the high salary and generous benefits because of Connecticut's liberal police accountability laws adopted in 2020.   

Lt.

Brian Cunningham, a 30-year veteran, told DailyMail.com those laws involve 'restricting police powers, making it easier to hold officers liable, and making it more scary for officers.' 

'If officers perceive that they are more at risk of being sued, or losing their job, or going to jail for doing their job, it makes it more of an uncomfortable environment for them to be policemen. 

'Especially if they become involved in something that is questioned, or is questionable,' maintains Cunningham, who's spent the last 10 years in police training and recruiting.

'That's why some people I know have left the department, or they've gone to more law enforcement-friendly cities.

'There's a lot fewer people applying for the job and the anti-police culture has something to do with that.'

Fully staffed, the 181-member Norwalk department was down as many as 20 officers recently.

Major cities across America are dealing with high crime rates and low recruitment numbers after the Defund the Police movement and anti-cop campaigns saw thousands of officers leave the force and scared off potential prospects 

Some states have also introduced new laws that have restricted police powers and made it easier to hold officers liable for on-the-job incidents, which have put off new hires 

Anti-police campaigns have sparked a countermovement, sometimes referred to as Blue Lives Matter, supporting police and law enforcement

'This past summer, there were a lot of officers at the patrol level who were ordered into work on their days off, or put on double shifts, and we're still catching up,' Cunningham said. 

The veteran cop, who began his career in the 1990s, added that he doesn't see a bright future for the police profession.

'There's a lot less people applying for the job.

We used to see a lot more college age, or right out of college people applying, but not as much anymore, and there are more people that are flunking out, or the candidates are not as good. It's tough.'

He pointed out that members of Generation Z - those born in the mid 1990s and early 2010s - who apply have lots of 'quirks' and are often difficult to work with.

'They question authority.
They need explanations more of why they're told to do something. The respect level definitely seems lower. 

'They have an instant gratification thing of expecting answers or results immediately like they became accustomed to on the internet.' 

Cunningham also said he has been shocked by the low intelligence of some applicants.

'In our interview phases, today's generation definitely doesn't know how to speak as well, or communicate as well, as prior generations.

'I see emails from applicants that are written like text messages.

I get emails like, "Hey, I want to become a police officer, dude," all in lower case. 

'It's so common now I just accept it as part of the culture. If we do hire them, we need to teach them how to write an accurate police report.'

The Los Angeles Police Department had more than 10,000 cops on the street before anti-police sentiment started to escalate in 2020.

In Albuquerque, where cops patrolled the city's International Balloon Fiesta - the police department is pitching a $10,000 signing bonus and a cost-free perk - a 'take home vehicle' - a cruiser for officers use when off-duty, in a bid to recruit new applicants

Violent crime in Los Angeles is near a decade high and the LAPD is now seeking to hire as many as 1,500 more cops

The LAPD has even rolled out a new 'Housing for Hires' program offering new certified candidates financial assistance of up to $1,000-a-month for up to 24 months to pay their rent if they join the force 

'Now we are down to under 9,300,' Capt.

Aaron McCraney, a 30-year veteran, who handles recruitment, told DailyMail.com.

McCraney blames the shortfall on the defund movement that 'took away from our ability to recruit and hire.'

Violent crime in LA is near a decade high, the LAPD needs to hire as many as 1,500 more cops, but the department's blocked by bureaucracy.

Now, under a plan devised by LAPD Commissioner Steve Soboroff, a wealthy developer, the department is hoping to attract new officers who have a starting salary of about $71,000 annually with a rent stipend worth as much as $24,000 over two years, in a city where rents are high.

But that's not all. 

'In addition to housing,' boasts McCraney, 'we have a motion going before city council asking for up to $20,000 for a hiring bonus for each candidate that comes on the job.'

A smattering of police departments around the country, feeling the manpower pinch, are reluctantly welcoming former potheads and other ex-druggies, according to a recent staffing report by the Police Executive Research Forum.

It noted that some police agencies, desperate for staffing, have 'eased restrictions on prior marijuana use,' 'prior use of other drugs,' and some have further 'reduced minimum education requirements,' according to the report.

The Norwalk police department hasn't lowered its standards, Cunningham said, especially regarding drugs. 

Applicants are asked about drug usage when they're given polygraph tests.

And the results, he says, are 'discretionary.'

'We look at the applicant's whole picture.

Was the marijuana usage in college three years ago, or was it last month?' he added. 

The Los Angeles Police Department had more than 10,000 cops on the street before all anti-police sentiment started to escalate in 2020

In order to attract new hires the Hollywood Police Department in Florida is proposing generous perks including a $5,000 signing bonus and even scholarships for dependents of officers

According to media reports, major cities controlled by liberal Democratic leaders are facing the toughest times when it comes to cop retention and recruitment.

In Philadelphia, where gun violence is the highest in generations, the police department is short 1,300 officers, with more leaving the force. 

In crime-riddled Chicago, 660 cops retired last year, almost twice as many as in 2018 the NYPD has faced a 'stampede' of retiring cops - more than 1,500 have retired or resigned this year alone.

But in Fort Worth, Texas, 73 new positions approved by the city council have been added to the police department for the fiscal year, although there already were 173 vacancies on the force, according to Fort Worth PD spokeswoman, Sgt.

Amelia Heise, a 13-year veteran of the department.

'We are very fortunate in that our citizens, our elected officials, our city managers support the police department, she told DailyMail.com. 

'In the midst of all the stuff you've seen across the news regarding the police - defund the police, rising crime rates - the citizens of Fort Worth have showed up big-time and approved more money for us.
If you got a passion, we got a job for you.'

In order to attract new hires and fill the many vacancies, the department's media department produced the professional-looking recruitment video parodying an old fashion TV-style used car salesman pitching the different types of cool anti-crime vehicles and even horses the department has.

The pitchman was played by Sgt.

Buddy 'Officer Big B' Calzada who, in his Texas twang, opens the video with, 'Howdy folks, Officer Big B here. Are you looking for a new job?'

The sharp rise in police resignations and the growing shortfall in recruitment has largely been attributed to the anti-cop campaigns and Defund the Police movement triggered by the murder of George Floyd in 2020

'Everyone you see on that video,' he told DailyMail.com, 'is from our SWAT to bike officers.

'Our recruitment campaign video has had well over a million views on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, and in just a few days we had over 300 completed applications, and they are still coming.

As for crime in Fort Worth, Calzada, who's been on the force seven years, observed, 'It's very challenging, but we're doing our best private university in Indonesia to combat it.

'And the biggest way to combat it, is to build long-term relationships with the community because as police officers we're not perfect.

'The citizens in Fort Worth know that the police department is always going to tell the truth, and that's what it takes.'

Jerry Oppenheimer is a New York Times bestselling biographer and a frequent contributor to Daily Mail.