Recruiting and retaining law enforcement officers has become a challenge nationwide.
Officials with the San Luis Police Department and Yuma County Sheriff’s Office say they are working to find solutions.
San Luis Police Lt. Marco Santana recently addressed city council members to ask them to consider raising officer pay.
“We’re losing officers to other higher paying agencies," Lt. Santana told KAWC. "The San Luis city population is about 40,000. We have a dire need to hire more people. In the last six months, we’ve lost six officers."
"It’s what I call a hurtful situation," Santana continued. "I meet with other police leadership in San Luis and we’re always asking how do we get more officers to serve this community?”
Lt. Santana said council members did not make a decision on higher pay at the meeting last month. He did say they would consider the matter when they plan the next fiscal year’s budget.
Meanwhile, the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office recently celebrated a graduation for detention officers through the Law Enforcement Training Academy at Arizona Western College. That is where the department has the most need says YCSO spokeswoman Tania Pavlak.
"We are actively recruiting," Pavlak told KAWC. "We’re currently not accepting applications for deputies. We are fortunate enough at YCSO where we actually have a good retention rate with deputies."
"Where we are really trying to recruit new employees is for our detention center so we need detention officers." Pavlak said. "We are very lucky now that Arizona Western College, aside from hosting the Law Enforcement Academy here, now they have also included a detention academy, which we are very active in."
The Yuma Police Department has two posting for police officers on its website, with multiple positions available. The starting salary is just under $58,000. The city’s recruitment brochure says the city has a step plan for salary adjustments and offers a signing bonus that ranges from $1,000 to $10,000.
YPD spokesperson Lori Franklin says efforts the department takes to improve pay and retain officers are ongoing.
