JPD To Offer $10K For Lateral Transfers
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Jamestown's top cop has 10,000 reasons for a police officer to join the Jamestown Police Department.
Tim Jackson, Jamestown police chief and public safety director, told City Council members earlier this week the city is now offering a $10,000 bonus to sworn officers will transfer into the Jamestown Police Department. As has been reported previously by The Post-Journal, numerous police and law enforcement agencies around the nation are facing manpower shortages and having a hard time getting applicants for open officer positions.
Jackson is trying a different approach to recruit those who are already wearing a "blue uniform" or have a badge assigned to them.
"We're offering a $10 thousand dollar bonus to those who are already a sworn officer and will transfer over to JPD," said Timonthy Jackson, chief of police for Jamestown City, during a City Council Public Safety Committee meeting. "This bonus will be paid directly to the new officer. However, the stipulation is they must serve with JPD for five years, and if they leave early or quite before five years the officer will be required to pay back the bonus. And they must be a currently certified New York state police officer."
When questioned about applicants currently at Jamestown Community Colleges Sheriff's Academy the chief's answers were bleak.
"I think there's maybe five cadets," said Jackson. "Five from Chautauqua County at least. Not only are we losing officers to retirements, but we're not replacing the numbers equally."
County Sheriff Jim Quattrone gave a similar answer when asked by The Post-Journal about the difficulty of recruiting new deputies.
"Nationwide we're seeing a shortage of applicants wanting to pursue careers in law enforcement," Quattrone said in July. "This lack of qualified applicants is a real issue. More overtime must be paid to cover shifts; officers health is placed at greater risk as more stress is placed on them, and response times for calls for service and backup can increase significantly."