MICHIGAN CITY — While turnover is high among Michigan City police officers and firefighters, a proposal to require recruits to stay for five years or reimburse the city for training costs was immediately criticized by representatives of both departments.
At its meeting Tuesday, the Michigan City Common Council discussed an ordinance creating a training and equipment reimbursement agreement between the city and new applicants to the MCPD and MCFD.
Councilman Don Przybylinski, who co-authored the ordinance, read a section that said it would be in the best interest of the city for applicants to both departments to agree to reimburse the city for the costs of training and equipment if the applicant voluntarily terminates employment within five years.
Councilman Paul Przybylinski said such an ordinance would stop Michigan City from being a “training ground” for other departments, where recruits gain experience and training before leaving for a higher-paying department.
Councilwoman Tracie Tillman said such an agreement has been discussed since 2019 as a way to retain police officers and firefighters.
She added that with the raises and bonuses being given to both departments recently, she hoped they didn’t see this as a deterrent for potential recruits.
“I feel that if they see this, if they are true and dedicated to what they’re wanting to do, of being an officer, or to protect and to serve, then this shouldn’t be a question if they want a job or not.”
But Cpl. Brian Wright, president of Michigan City Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 75, said the ordinance would be taking “two steps back” after the progress made to get raises and bonuses for police officers.
In the law enforcement community, he said, departments that do this throw up major red flags.
Wright said he talked to several officers from differing agencies and asked them their opinion on the ordinance, and many of them were not positive. Some of the comments included, “It sounds like you have a desperate department” and “a city council posing this is a sign of a weak administration.”
“These responses are not how we want the Michigan City Police Department to be portrayed,” Wright said. “We want our department to be portrayed as one of the top departments in this area, a department that attracts people and retains them not because they signed some contract saying if they leave, they owe us money, but because they want to be here.”
He also posed two questions: “Would they make a recruit who decides police work isn’t for them stay and be a liability for five years?” and, “What if a recruit has a family emergency or a family member that has to move out of state for work?”
He suggested instead of passing the ordinance, the council should create an ordinance that rewards officers for staying, saying that will boost morale, bring others into the department and encourage officers to attract people looking for a career in law enforcement.
“Currently, people are receiving a $7,000 bonus for coming to the Michigan City Police department,” he said, “Why don’t we make an ordinance that will pay our officers that same amount over a period of five years instead of penalizing them if they leave in that five years? That is something that will get people to stay on our department.”
Fire Chief Doug Legault said the MCFD held the same concerns, agreeing it does not want someone who decides that firefighting isn’t for them to stick around for safety reasons.
However, he noted that there was a stipulation in the ordinance that, under certain circumstances, the chief can let a recruit go without requiring reimbursement.
Councilwoman Dalia Zygas suggested waiting to see if the increase in salaries would be enough to bring people in, saying they could always put the ordinance in place later.
“If it’s going to be a morale problem to say, ‘Well, I’m not going to go here because I have to stay for five years no matter what,’ you know that’s going to be a deterrent,” Zygas said. “We don’t want to have an enticement by an increased salary and then, all of a sudden, put this deterrent on as well.”
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