Are you sure they are hiring? Oceanside is trying layoff police officers. Anyone can put up an ad.
You can grab an ex military guy on the street an turn him in a police man in no time.
The point is that the govt is over paying and they are running out of money. I bet you with better management you can reduce the cost by 30 percent. If you pay 70k and 100k with benefits, I bet you can find a bunch of decent candidates.

The shortage of teachers, firefighters, and police is a myth that the public employee unions created.

Hey, I am glad CA is running out of money. They will have to fix the prob now. Get ready to receive your IOUs.