By EMS1 Staff
YAKIMA, Wash. — Legal permanent immigrant residents are now eligible to apply to become firefighters and police officers thanks to a recently passed bill.
YakTri News reported that the city of Yakima is expecting the pool of candidates for firefighters and police officers to increase after Senate Bill 6145 took effect in June.
The bill allows legally permanent residents who are non-citizens to apply to become a first responder, but they will first have to pass a background check and be able to speak and write in English.
Officials hope the increase in potential recruits will help with the shortage they are experiencing.
“There’s a shortage of police officers not as many people are going into law enforcement as say 20 years or even 10 years ago, so this will just increase the pool of potential candidates,” Yakima Police Department spokesperson Mike Bastinelli said.