Burlington Reporter

After a couple years of losing more officers than the city hires, Burlington is trying to increase its number of police officers.

Nearly a dozen officers are planning to leave the Burlington Police Department by the end of the year, leaving law enforcement agencies in the Triad scrambling to attract recruits and retain patrol officers.

“You’ve got to bring a higher number of folks in, and you’ve got to try to retain the ones that you have with you,” Lt. Shelly Katkowski, director of training of Burlington police, said in a myfox8.com report.

The city has been averaging 24 resignations a year, while hiring just 12 new people. That makes the job more challenging.

When the department is understaffed, it often means officers have to work overtime, not leaving much time for a healthy work/life balance.

“It can be a little tough some days,” Officer Chandler Lawson said in the report. “If one or two people take the day off, and we’re down that many people, it’s just a lot more call volume.”

The Burlington Police are recruiting for 20 open patrol positions, which doesn't include the slots for the dozen or so who are expected to leave in the next couple of months.

The department is estimating a total of 67 trained officers in 2023.

“It’s just a lot more call volume for us,” Lawson said. “Less time for us to be proactive and get out into the community and the positive aspects, more just answering calls for service.”

Staffing problems limit patrols and investigations, and lead to reduced DWI and road safety enforcement, among other things.

“There’s just been an increase of officers leaving the profession in general,” Katkowski said, “Not necessarily leaving here to go somewhere. They’re just getting out of the profession for other opportunities.”

To even out the balance sheet, leaders have been discussing bonuses, improved benefits and other incentives.

“It is important to have not just officers on the street but qualified people, good people on the street doing the right thing,” Katkowski said.

A police cadet’s starting salary is $46,500, but the hiring isn't all about the base pay; keeping them starts with building relationships from the first day, she said. “Make them feel as if they’re a part of our team,” Katkowski said of the goal to improve retention. “Our family from the minute they put their application in.”

The police department plans to present some of the new ideas for recruitment and retention to the city council this month.

Officials estimate it’ll take 4-and-a-half years to be fully staffed if they can flip the current trends.