About half of the students majoring in criminal justice at San Jose State University want to be cops, but very few are choosing to join the San Jose Police Department.
"They're looking for jobs in other law enforcement organizations," said Dr. James Lee, who serves as the criminal justice department chair.
Lee said students know about the pay and benefits in San Jose and are already checking it off their list -- bad news for a department struggling to bolster its recruiting efforts.
The San Jose Police Academy currently has the lowest number of recruits in recent memory. There are concerns the next academy may be even worse.
"Something's going to have to change in the culture of San Jose," Lee said. "Something's going to have to change that makes the job more attractive to the new recruits."
Sources tell NBC Bay Area the San Jose recruitment numbers for October are so low the recruitment office considered canceling next month's oral board testing for potential cadets.
But there are some students looking to join San Jose police.
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"San Jose is my home. I grew up here, live in the east side," said Mark Sugui, a senior at SJSU who will apply to SJPD. "I know San Jose is having a hard time right now, but I'm pretty optimistic that things are going to get better. Just a matter of sitting tight and hoping for the best."
