While the nation's pool of police officer applicants around the country is smaller, police officials in North Dakota say they are still finding qualified candidates.

"I think through our recruitment efforts that we're doing better than we did five, six years ago," Bismarck Police Chief Deb Ness said.

Her department has 89 sworn officers, and is trying to fill two openings, Ness said Friday.

"What we're also beginning to find is some of those individuals that left for a while are wanting to come back to Bismarck. We've had officers that have come back after they've left, and we've had students come from other states," Ness said. "I think that says a lot about Bismarck as a city and North Dakota as a state."

Associated Press interviews and reviews of policies in 50 cities found a trend toward relaxation of age, fitness and other standards among police departments, due mainly to a shortage of recruits.

"We have gone through periods when it was more challenging to fill vacancies with what we call qualified candidates," Fargo Police Capt. Tod Dahle said. In some cases, he said, the department has tested more people rather than fill the vacancy immediately.

"We haven't really had to reduce our standards," Dahle said. "We're still able to pick from what I think is a very solid pool of candidates."

Dahle said the department has 131 officers, four on military call-up.

Ness and Dahle said their departments have no age limit for officers.

"Typically this isn't a career where people apply later in life, but we've certainly hired a number of people in their 30s and into their 40s," Dahle said. One officer is "well into his 50s," he said.

"I don't think it's a negative that a person has had some life experience, even in another field," he said. "A big part of our job is interacting with the public, so it helps to have that experience."

Ness said some of the Bismarck officers have been in the "40 and 45-year-old" range.

"I have no maximum age," she said. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't care about your age, your nationality, or your gender. All I care is if you can meet the necessary tests."

The tests include written tests, psychological tests, and fitness tests.

"We find that often times, people who are older than average perform just as well in the physical fitness test as the young candidates," Ness said.

"The vast majority of us are still passing the physical fitness tests," Dahle said. "It doesn't mean the person has to be some type of superior athlete. But once they're hired, we encourage that person to maintain their fitness and develop it."