"Local Knowledge" a factor in Police Hiring?

[PeeOwed]

In the "job center" section of a lot of LE boards, I've seen a few "anyone hiring" type posts looking for city and town police depts. Led me to wonder what, if any, knowledge of the locality does a city or town generally look for in candidates? I know a number of city depts. require some sort of residency or proximity, or give application points to people who actually reside within the city; but I'm wondering, particularly in big city departments, is there an expectation that strong candidates have a fairly comprehensive understanding of the locality, geography, population demographics, etc. ?

My gut tells me there must be; but on the other hand I could also imagine a scenario where the "lay of the land" is something the department assumes would be picked up during a candidates cadet/trainee/rookie time.

[SlowDownThere]

My gut tells me there must be; but on the other hand I could also imagine a scenario where the "lay of the land" is something the department assumes would be picked up during a candidates cadet/trainee/rookie time.

I think this would be about the least important trait to look for in a candidate. Local knowledge can be taught to anyone of normal intelligence.

Other traits are either difficult or impossible to instill, traits such as intelligence, integrity, judgement, reliability, maturity, etc.

[GB0610]

I think you response above is accurate. BUT, many depts want to know you are knowledgable about their department/city because it shows you put effort into finding it out before the interview.