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FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA It's odd enough that the Scottsdale, Ariz., Police Department is trolling for recruits in Washington, 2,300 miles from the posh desert community. Odder still is where Scottsdale is looking for a few good men and women: in the restrooms of Nationals Park. Tacked above the urinals in the men's rooms at the new ballpark, conveniently at eye level, are posters reading, "The Scottsdale Police Department Is Hiring," illustrated with a photo of a lush desert scene. The ads are also in the ladies' rooms of the new stadium. Please dispense with the jokes. The way the Scottsdale police figure it, ballpark patrons are a captive audience. And ballpark bathroom visitors are a really captive audience. So the department, which has about 25 vacancies, is spending $36,000 this year to put help-wanted ads in ballpark and sports arena restrooms around the country. The posters have also gone up in Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, among other places. "It's a conversation starter," said Greg Carlin, the Scottsdale police recruiting officer. "Maybe you'll see it and go back to your seat and tell your friends, 'I just saw an ad for police officers in the bathroom.' And your friend might say, 'You're kidding. My nephew is trying to get on the force'" Fishing expedition Scottsdale, he explained, is fishing where the fish might bite: "We've tried to focus on areas where the market for police officers isn't strong, where there might not be a lot of [law enforcement] jobs." Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix, contracted with InStadium, a 7-year-old marketing company based in Chicago that acts as a bathroom billboard broker. The company contracts with teams and venue operators for poster space in their bathrooms, then leases the space to advertisers. It has 370 clients and projects revenue of $7 million this year. As you might expect, the company knows a good deal about the sociology of ballpark bathrooms. Michele Foster, InStadium's head of marketing, said people go to the bathroom an average of 2.3 times per game (we didn't ask about the 0.3 time). They'll look at ads for at least 90 seconds, longer if there's a line, she said. 'Pristine' venues For maximum attention, the company puts ads near the mirrors in women's rooms. "Yes, we spend a lot of time there," Foster said. They're also above the urinals in the men's room, because men tend to fix their gaze on that spot. Foster called stadium restrooms "a pristine amphitheater." By which we think she means "for advertising." Carlin said his department has gotten lots of calls about the ads since they began popping up in stadiums but has hired only one officer as a direct result. As for the ads in Nationals Park? Three calls. No hires.
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