RICHMOND — Hiring and training a new police officer takes time and money.
The officer passes a rigorous hiring process, attends the police academy, then undergoes local field training from experienced officers. The agency spends money on the hiring process itself, the probationary officer’s salary, equipment and training incidentals.
Hopefully, after a year, the new officer patrols alone, and receives a raise.
For the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, the pay bump for that officer increases the salary to about $37,000. That pales in comparison to the more than $42,000 earned by Indiana State Police troopers and the more than $43,000 earned by Richmond Police Department officers at the same point in their careers.
And that concerns Sheriff Jeff Cappa.
“My goal is not to allow our agency to turn into a training agency, because that’s not fair to the taxpayers,” Cappa said.
The problem? Those trained officers see the salary disparity of officers doing basically the same job in the same area. That tempts them to leave, sending the sheriff’s department back to Square 1.