CHICKASHA — The Police Department is offering signing bonuses to attract recruits to fill its depleted ranks.
The department is budgeted for 32 officers but had 15 job openings on July 5, Chief Goebel Music told Southwest Ledger on July 5. Consequently, each officer is “responding to twice the normal number of calls,” seeing and experiencing “more traumas than normal,” the police chief wrote in an April 28 letter.
To fill its vacancies, the CPD is offering a bonus of $6,000 for qualified but uncertified applicants and a bonus of $10,000 for certified applicants.
The bonuses will be paid in three phases, Music said: $1,500, $1,500 and $3,000 for rookies; $2,500, $2,500 and $5,000 for certified officers. The first payment will appear on a newly hired officer’s first paycheck; the second payment will be made after successful completion of the field training program; and the last payment will be made at the end of the officer’s probationary period.
To obtain certification, a law enforcement applicant must complete a basic course that features 600 hours of training sponsored by the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, according to Elleigh Mills of CLEET Law Enforcement Records.
The 16 weeks of “intensive training” are intended to give candidates “the core knowledge necessary to work as a peace officer,” she said. Cadets receive classroom and practical firearms instruction, and training in “everything from practical instruction for traffic stops to defensive tactics,” emergency response and pursuit driving, first aid, human relations, criminal investigation, domestic violence and sexual assault, radar operations, alcohol and drug crimes training.
The CPD budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24 includes $10,000 for overtime pay, and Music said his department “came to an agreement with the city for a limited amount” to pay the new recruit signing incentives. The bonuses will continue to be offered “until the money is used up or until we have to cross that bridge,” Music told the Ledger.
Mayor Chris Mosley said the new city budget includes sufficient funding for a fully staffed Police Department.
One new, uncertified
recruit, “a local man,” started July 10, “and we hope to hire another in August,” Music said.
The Chickasha P.D. advertises that it offers 10 paid holidays per year; paid vacation, sick days and personal time off days; a state police pension and flexible benefits plan; a police bargaining union; step increases, incentive pay, and college reimbursement assistance. Police uniforms and equipment are provided, and officers receive a $2,000 annual uniform allowance.