By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
It appears the St. Joseph Police Department is closing the gap on vacancies in its ranks.
St. Joseph Police Chief Paul Luster says recent, targeted recruitment efforts are paying off.
“We’re cautiously optimistic right now,” Luster says. “St. Joe was not immune from a national crisis of a shortage of police officers in many departments. That was the case when I started as chief back in late June. We were short-staffed. Like I said, that’s not unique to St. Joe. That’s going on at a national level.”
Luster sees two main culprits. The coronavirus pandemic caused some police officers to decide to quit. The social uproar over police brutality, such as the George Floyd death in Minneapolis, discouraged many police officers as certain members of the public used a broad brush to smear all law enforcement.
A switch in approach has helped greatly, according to Luster.
City officials reached agreement with the St. Joseph Fraternal Order of Police to remove the cap that limited the salary offer St. Joseph could make to veteran officers serving in other cities to five years. Under the new agreement, the city can offer a salary comparable to what a St. Joseph officer would be making, up to 13 years, which is the top pay in the St. Joseph Police Department.
Luster says St. Joseph has been able to convince two former St. Joseph police officers to return to the fold with two others in the hiring process. The department is reviewing the applications of four officers from other police departments.
Luster calls that a promising trend, though he cautions that it comes with stipulations.
“I need to emphasize that we won’t just take anybody. Our hiring standards are still in effect,” Luster says. “So, with that, what we found as we started this is we’re about at a 50% ratio on those, meaning I’m not going to take on another department’s problem.”
Luster says the standards will not be lowered just to fill vacancies.
“I want to make sure we’re bringing in the right officers for St. Joe, the right officers that are going to fit into our culture here and that are going to do right by our citizens in serving the city.”
Even as the city is attempting to recruit veteran officers from other departments, it is continuing to recruit young men and women. Luster says the department has new recruits set to enter the Law Enforcement Academy at Missouri Western State University in January. New recruits, though, take a while before they are ready to hit the streets.
“All in all, I’d say with the academy at six months and then three-and-a-half, four months of FTO, when you get that person day one of the academy, about a year later you’re seeing the benefits of that, roughly,” according to Luster. “It takes a lot longer to get them trained. Of course, it’s important that they’re trained and they’re trained well. It’s something we’re not going to stray from.”
The St. Joseph Police Department is authorized for 138 commissioned officers and has around 20 vacancies.