Police intensify search for officers to fill hundreds of jobs in Kentucky
There’s an intense search involving police around Kentucky, but it’s not for a suspect – it’s for people to fill the hundreds of open positions for police officers.
“There’s just nothing drawing people to this line of work anymore,” said Covington Capt. Jonathan Colwell.
Colwell has been an officer for 20 years.
He says there’s a long list of reasons people are choosing other professions, but one of the most tangible is that the incentives offered to new recruits aren’t as good as they once were.
One of the most impactful is the retirement benefit package.
“Now, with the retirement system they have set up for new hires, it’s just not as appealing,” Colwell said.
Ft. Wright Mayor Dave Hatter agrees. He says among the top reasons recruitment is more difficult for Kentucky police departments is that the benefits have dwindled in the past several years.
“They've changed the pension system in Kentucky substantially over time. So, there's less incentive to become a police officer and think you're going to retire in 20 years,” Hatter said.
At one time, Kentucky officers were part of the state’s retirement system and got a pension and medical benefits after 20 years. That later went to 25 years.
The benefits continued to decrease over time in what’s called a tier system. It began with tier 1, went to tier 2, and now is at tier 3, which is basically officers investing in a 401K.
One solution Ft. Wright and some other departments are trying is getting retired officers to come back.
In Covington, the program is called Retire Rehire.
“Since we've implemented it, we've had seven officers come back,” said Covington Lt. Justin Bradbury.
Bradbury said retired officers who come back do it at the highest rate for a patrol office, plus they get a $15,000 annual stipend.
Since most of the officers involved are retired under the plan when the benefits were highest, the city doesn’t pay additional for them.
It ends up being a savings to the city of between $50,000 and $60,000.
“Once I left, I just felt like I was missing something. And I wanted to be a policeman again,” said Officer Marcus Jordan.
Jordan retired in June of last year, and then came back in September. He said he feels like he’s better now than when he first started his career.
“I kind of have the knowledge and the wisdom that I didn't have back then. And I feel like I can help out even more than I did back then,” Jordan said.
The Retire Rehire programs are not a final solution. Eventually, the officers who are getting those higher-level benefits will want to stop.
Newer officers who won’t be getting the added benefits like medical care, won’t be able to afford to do the job.
For now, some of the newest recruits are also the oldest.