Getting ready for another day on patrol Eau Claire police officer Aaron Jensen loads up his gear, checks out his car and hits the road.

He doesn't even get out of the parking lot before he gets his first call.

It's not an easy job.

Jensen's been on the force for only three years, but coming from a family of police officers it's something he's always wanted to do.

"You never know what's going to happen on a daily basis," says Jensen.

That unpredictability may be a bonus for some, but for police departments competing with homeland security and private businesses for top quality people, it's leaving them short on recruits.

"They can work Monday through Friday, work 8-5 not have to wear a gun not have to wear a bullet proof vest not have to worry about the things we worry about on a daily basis," says Jensen.

It used to be every time an Eau Claire officer parked their squad for the last time, some two to three hundred people applied to pick up the keys, now the department's lucky if they get 50 or 60 interested applicants.

"Our last hiring process we had a list of 19 people on there and we really could only find about 4 or 5 that we really had any interest in hiring ," says Lt. Karl Fisher.

A possible reason for the drop in police candidates is an increase in the education requirements. Years ago in some departments all you had to have is valid drivers license now classes and college credits are required all across the state.

"When you add that 60 college credit requirement and you add the in-service requirement we really assured the public that we're going to have a better qualified police officer on the street," says Forrest Nutter, director of the law enforcement program at Chippewa Valley Technical College.

But with some eight officer jobs unfilled, patrolling Eau Claire's streets is falling on fewer and fewer police. Leaving departments dreaming of more people like officer Jensen.

"I love this job I couldn't envision anything else."

The Eau Claire police department is accepting officer applications through April 14th