Published: July 19, 2008 07:00 pm      

Area police agencies trying to increase staffs

Some local police agencies are having difficulty getting officers but are hoping money talks.

To help get the attention of already-sworn officers, the Beaumont Police Department is offering cash to get their attention. Sworn officers could receive up to $14,000 in incentive pay. The signing incentive is $2,000 per year of service time paid up to seven years of service.

To help get the message out, BPD officials have taken money from other budgets to “beef up advertising.” So far the plan has worked and about 10 people will start the police academy in August. But still they are about another 11 officers short to meet a full staff of 205, according to BPD officials.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is taking a different approach and asking county commissioners for money in the upcoming budget for the approval to hire more deputies. Sheriff Mitch Woods said he is requesting three more deputies. One deputy will be a livestock deputy while the other two will be on patrol.

Officials cite a 30 percent increase in service calls this year; there have already been more calls in the first seven months of this year than all of last year.

However, on a larger scale, the Texas Department of Public Safety is also looking for officers across the state of Texas.

“We are more than 200 troopers short,” state trooper Stephanie Davis said.

However, DPS officials are hoping to alleviate some of the problem by holding their next schools for training in September of this year and March 2009.

For some local cities who do not need such a large number of officers, the demand is still just as serious. The West Orange Police Department has six patrol officers and would like to add one more. Recently, one officer was seriously assaulted by a suspect and has been out on leave to recover from his injuries. The remaining officers are left to cover the shifts.

The officers volunteer their time to work overtime to cover the shortfalls, according to West Orange police chief Mike Stelly.

The Vidor Police Department is not only missing patrol officers but also a police chief. The former police chief, Steve Conroy, left the position to take another job in Livingston. Officials knew Conroy was looking for a job elsewhere, but waited until he resigned to begin the search for his replacement.

Since then, assistant police chief Rex Carter has been doing the job as interim police chief.

City Manager Ricky Jorgenson said he is unsure how soon he will look at hiring a new police chief but said it would be “relatively quick.”

The VPD also is looking to hire a full-time motorcycle police officer and a part-time officer to bring their staff up to 22 officers.

“The more you have to hire then the more you need,” Carter said. “The biggest problem is they have to be qualified.”

Carter attributes the turnover to the fact that they are transferring to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to become deputies because of better pay and benefits.

Captain David Peck, of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, said he feels there are fewer officers because of better-paying jobs, such as in the area’s refineries.

“The younger generation is not going to take a $30,000 per year job when they can get one making $60,000 per year,” Peck said. “Younger folks are more interested in where the money is.”

However, Peck said his patrol division is currently fully staffed with 24 deputies after a recent hiring of four additional deputies.

The Port Arthur Police Department is only slightly understaffed; the department only needs to add about three officers to the 117 it currently has, according to officials.

Other local agencies such as the Orange, Bridge City and Pinehurst departments, report they have no openings.

“We have excellent officers,” said Dan Robertson of Pinehurst Police Department, “(and) not much of a turnover here.”

Officials with Lamar Institute of Technology with the Police Academy in Beaumont may have good news for police agencies. They report applications to the academy are up and are expecting 30 people in August to begin classes compared with last year’s class of 20. However, up to four students usually drop out after the first week becasue of non-payment.

The 16-week course tuition costs about $1,927. However, before a person can start the academy, he or she must first pass a 100-question general knowlege entrance exam. However, the test if only given at specific times throughout the year.

Applicants must also be at least 21 years old, have a high school diploma or a GED and 12 college credit hours.

For more information on the police academy, call 409-880-8321.