Cleveland police welcome cadets over 40 as part of new recruiting bid

Jessica Bloom spent a couple of decades working at restaurants. Mahmoud Salti spent years tending stores. Now, in their 40s, the two are doing pushups, cracking law books and learning to subdue suspects in Cleveland’s police academy.

“It’s a challenge,” Salti, 49, says about the academy, which he and Bloom entered in December and hope to graduate in August, becoming Cleveland cops. “For the young ones, it’s a lot easier. But I’m still here. They look up to me, and I appreciate that.”

Bloom, 43, feared at first that younger schoolmates might call her Mom or Granny. “Surprisingly, they don’t,” she says, “and I appreciate that.”

To rebuild a shrinking force and boost safety, Cleveland raised the age limit last year for recruits from 40 to 55. It also moved recruitment duties back to the police, raised recruits’ pay by 50 percent to $25 per hour, gave them up to $5,000 signing bonuses, and gave raises and bonuses to officers.

So far, the changes seem to be working. Cleveland signed up 134 recruits in 2024. That’s the most since 2019, more than six times as many as the 22 recruits of 2023, and more than the 117 officers who left the force last year. Now Cleveland has 1,132 officers, a budget for 1,350 officers, and 77 recruits in two academy classes.

In a November press release, Mayor Justin Bibb said, “We are optimistic that we will maintain this sustained level of success going forward.” 

The recruiting drive is part of the city’s Raising Investment in Safety for Everyone (RISE) Initiative for safety. RISE also includes video monitoring of the community by police and volunteers, a violence prevention endowment, a focus on trouble spots, partnerships with other law enforcement agencies, compliance with a federal consent decree and more. 

The academies run Mondays through Fridays and are based at the Justice Center. Recruits learn techniques, laws and departmental rules for many activities, such as using weapons, controlling traffic, gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, helping victims, giving first aid, and engaging the community. They must pass mental and physical tests, with some allowance in the latter for age.

Bloom and Salti say they’ve always worked out and can handle the academy’s physical challenges. Bloom says the academics are harder. “It’s a lot to soak in in a short time. Day by day, you do what you can and make your way through it.”

She’s been teased about a mishap. A cop friend stopped by the academy to give her a spare rucksack for her gear. The trouble was, recruits can’t have visitors, even from the force. 

So Bloom and all her schoolmates were punished with extra calisthenics and stairwell sprints. The schoolmates also had to chant, “Thank you, Recruit Bloom.” Now they often greet her with those words. 

Bloom wanted from childhood to be a cop, but started working in restaurants, moved into management and eventually found herself too old for her dream. Then the age limit went up.

The Medina County resident says that her fiancee supports her new career. “He knows if I set my mind to something, I’m going to do it to the best of my ability. If he’s worried, he’s not shown it yet.”

Salti graduated from medical school but went into retail. A few years ago, his store was robbed. Afterwards, he says, “a police officer would continue to come by and check on me. I really appreciated that.” Salti was inspired to change careers. 

The Lorain County resident says of his wife, four grown children and other family, “They’ve pushed me. They’re proud. They want me to be safe, but they are behind me 100 percent.”

The ranks of police have dwindled across the country in the face of rising scrutiny. But the mid-life recruits say they welcome it.

Says Salti, “It can help us in many ways, and the community as well.” 

Bloom says of the academy’s teachers, “They’ve taught us how important it is to have trust and respect from the public.”

Cleveland police can retire after 25 years and are supposed to retire by age 65, with some exceptions made. The 40-somethings say they hope to stay on the job for many years. Says Bloom, “Nobody in my family retires.”