Recruitment post featuring tattooed officer brings lots of attention to California police department

Friday, August 30, 2019
UPLAND, Calif. -- A Facebook post by Upland Police Department designed to draw more applicants is getting a lot of attention, particularly for one officer.

Upland police Officer Jake Waste has attracted a lot of looks in recent days after a recruiting post for the department went viral.
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"I wake up and my phone is just blowing up," Waste said.

The post reads, "Join our team today!" and shows Waste in uniform, with his sleeve tattoo visible.



The post received thousands of likes, comments and shares on Facebook.



One woman wrote in the comments she "will surrender to him and him only, just name a time and place (any good sushi bar will work for me.)"

"Do not come to Upland to break the law. It's not something you want to get involved in," Waste playfully said.
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While the post has drawn attention to the officer, Upland Police Chief Darren Goodman does want the public to know the department is hiring.

"We're looking for a new type of officer. We don't want people to feel like they can't consider a career in law enforcement because they have tattoos," Goodman said. "We've changed our policy on that."

The department didn't know the post and picture would go viral. Now they just hope it brings in some new recruits.

"In the game of recruitment, all attention is good attention," Goodman said. "We certainly weren't expecting this."
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