The state commission that oversees certification for municipal police officers has changed rules yet again regarding out of state officers, according to Hileman.

Hileman cited the difficulty of Pennsylvania’s police officer training certification as a connection to the lack of recruitment responses. The requirements put forth by the Pennsylvania training commission are "definitely much harder than it has been in years. And given the shortages of police officers, we’ll see if it holds up or if they backtrack on that in the future," Hileman said.

Hileman noted it is easier to be certified as a police officer in Maryland and throughout the years, the Pennsylvania police training commission has varied from more lenient to strict, with the current procedure as somewhere in the middle, he said.

"It’s been sort of a bipolar affair. Years ago, our training commission was one of the toughest in the country and if you came from out-of-state you had to go to the academy and take those classes…there was no testing out of it.

Following that, regulations were changed that potential officers coming from out-of-state only had to take a standard jurisdiction test and would learn Pennsylvania procedures after they were hired to the department.

Now applicants can test out in lieu of the police academy if they can prove they know Pennsylvania specific material, Hileman said.

"They now require a different, more comprehensive test," he said.

As evidence, Hileman noted that the single candidate of the Civil Service Process recently withdrew his application.

A candidate certified in Washington D.C. and Maryland withdrew an application upon receiving a non-qualifying entrance score to the department, according to Hileman. As law enforcement mechanics and criminal procedure varies between states, applicants coming from out-of-state require more training to learn Pennsylvania specific regulations. The qualifying test is specific to Pennsylvania criminal vehicle law and the applicant would be required to undergo 500 hours or "essentially half the police academy," to be allowed to take the test again, Hileman said.

"We are back to starting over again, and it is a bleak landscape," he said, noting similar plights faced by other municipalities including Gettysburg.

"It’s a tough job market for police officers and it’s tough to try to stay competitive… We’re throwing the hook back out there and seeing if we can snag anything," he said.