CHICAGO –
The leaders of U.S. Army Recruiting Command and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office met Oct. 21 to discuss partnership opportunities that can help both organizations attract talent in the future.
Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen and Command Sgt. Maj. John Foley, USAREC’s senior leaders, along with Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for Illinois Steve Herman and the Chicago Recruiting Battalion command team met with Sheriff Thomas Dart and spent the day with Leo Schmitz, chief of public safety for the Sheriff’s Police Department, learning about the operations and how recruiting efforts for each organization could potentially help the other.
“We want to help reinvest back into communities,” Vereen said, referencing the Army’s Partnership for Youth Success program, which guarantees transitioning Soldiers up to five job interviews with PaYS partners. “We can offer highly trained and disciplined individuals to the workforce. They may leave the community for a few years, but if they choose to go back home after serving, they are coming back with skills, education, certifications and a sense of purpose.”
In addition to PaYS, the leaders discussed possible collaborative training opportunities as well as school outreach programs.
Vereen, who spent much of his Army career as a military police officer, highlighted the multitude of jobs in a police department that could be filled with skilled veterans – police officers, intelligence, information technology, human resources and more.
Vereen and Holt both agreed the military and police share common ground when it comes to the challenge of remaining connected to society and the importance of building strong relationships with communities and sharing the good stories to help build trust.
“We have to find the good people and empower them,” Schmitz said when discussing the recruiting challenges both the Army and police departments are facing. “We are excited about PaYS and working together to help each other.”