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City outlines police hiring incentives including up to $5,000 sign-on/retention payments
Summary
Saint Joseph staff reported a police recruitment plan that offers up to $3,000 for recruits with under two years' experience and up to $5,000 for experienced officers (split between completion of probation and two-year retention), plus front-loaded vacation and sick leave; council directed staff to proceed with a posting under the cap.
City staff briefed council on efforts to recruit additional police officers and outlined a tiered incentive package approved for posting and implementation under council direction.
Police Chief Dwight Adenstein said the proposed incentives aim to make Saint Joseph competitive with regional offers. For candidates with two years or less experience the city will offer $1,500 upon completing probation and an additional $1,500 after two years (total $3,000). For candidates with more than two years’ experience the proposal would offer $2,500 upon completing probation and $2,500 to remain through two years (total $5,000). The plan also includes front-loading 40 hours of vacation and 40 hours of sick leave to help recruit officers with family needs.
Chief Adenstein said the council had previously directed staff to consider incentives up to $5,000 and staff will advertise the openings on standard municipal and state posting channels. Councilors asked about additional incentives and directed staff to proceed within the council-directed cap; staff said they will return if higher incentives are needed.
The discussion generated operational direction rather than a formal council ordinance: staff will post the openings, apply the incentive structure as described, and report back if the approach proves insufficient to fill vacancies.
