Washington hiring for police officer, again

WASHINGTON — City officials have once again posted an open Washington police officer position, after one member took a job with the State Highway Patrol shortly after the department’s newest recruit graduated from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

Washington Police Chief Jim Lester said the department planned to offer a $5,000 sign-on bonus to applicants who were already academy-certified.

“It’s a little incentive,” he said. “Lots of agencies are having issues with applicants and getting certified officers, and are offering those bonuses and things like that.”

Lester said the move would save the city money overall, with the cost of training a new recruit starting around $10,000, before accounting for wages during their 16 weeks at the academy.

Lester said increased wages for officers could help with retention.

“A lot of agencies are seeing changes in their pay scales and wages because of what other agencies are doing,” he said. “Our starting pay is considerably lower than other comparable departments, so (those are) other things we’ll have to be looking at as we dive into budget time.”

Mayor Jaron Rosien said the City Administrator was authorized to make an up to $5,000 payment without approval from the city council.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com