Increase in state police salaries adds to competition for officers

KENDALLVILLE, Ind. -- Police departments across the state continue their scramble to keep officers amid rising pay levels from some competitors.\nThe Indiana State Police is attracting some officers from local departments following a 20 percent increase in pay for first-year troopers and started its first training program for troopers transferring from other police agencies last week.\nAmong the 18 officers on the Kendallville Police Department, eight have applied this year for jobs with the state police or Fort Wayne's Police Department.\n"We have our work cut out for us," said Kendallville Police Chief Robyn Wiley, a former state police investigator. "We're certainly in the midst of dealing with it."\nOne officer from the city, which is about 30 miles north of Fort Wayne, has already been hired to become a state trooper, and two are being considered in Fort Wayne, a common destination for those wanting to work for a larger agency, Wiley said.\nThe pay raise Gov. Mitch Daniels announced in April makes the salaries for first-year troopers $39,312 a year. He said the move was needed to make troopers' pay more competitive with other states and law enforcement agencies.\nIn another move to compete for new recruits, the state police dropped its longtime requirement that would-be troopers have at least 60 hours of college credits or previous military experience.\nThe measures were needed to help the state police stay competitive, said 1st Sgt. Brian Olehy, an agency spokesman. Troopers are recruited away from the state police as well, often by federal agencies.\n"We're all competing for the same pool of applicants," Olehy said.\nWabash County Sheriff Leroy Striker said he has not lost any deputies to another police agency over the past four years, but he has lost some to occupations with higher pay. But he also has done hiring of his own, recently making a job offer to an officer from the town of South Whitley.\nWabash County officials have approved a pay increase for next year that will raise the salaries for deputies from about $30,000 to $33,000.\nThe higher state police pay "absolutely puts us in a very interesting situation," Striker said. "We're going in the right direction."\nHiring officers away from other departments cuts down training costs and provides more immediate experience, said Robin Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Fort Wayne Police Department.\n"They can be plugged in a lot sooner, too," she said.\nThe state police expects to have its largest recruitment class in its 73-year history as 160 recruits -- the maximum that can be accommodated at the state's training academy-- will be chosen from 3,375 applicants and begin training in January.\nDaniels said last year that he wanted to add 200 troopers by 2008. The force has 1,137 troopers now, and the agency expects to have added 200 more above normal attrition by December 2007.