LAWRENCE, Ind. — It was nearly half a year ago when 13News introduced you to Officer Jennifer Highwood, one of the newest officers to serve and protect the people of Lawrence.
And like police agencies across Indiana and the rest of the country, top brass needed a lot more Officer Highwoods.
"Certainly, staffing is a challenge," said now-retired Lawrence Police Chief Gary Woodruff last November.
LPD had gone from more than 100 responses to a job posting down to sometimes just a few qualified applicants. At the time of our original story, the department was down five officers with at least four more planning to retire this year.
But just this week, the city swore in a record 12 new officers, eight full-time and four reserve.
So how did they do it? A department spokesperson told us they increased starting salaries and offered a $5,000 hiring bonus. The bonus offer was $10,000 for experienced police officers.
They also emphasized diversity in their marketing campaign which appears to have paid off.
"I'm very excited to see that," Lawrence Mayor Deb Whitfield said. "Breaking barriers is very important to us. We need to start looking like the city that we serve, and so when we see that, it's very exciting for us."
Other police departments are also using financial inducements to try to correct staffing shortages. Just a few weeks ago, we saw the Washington County Sheriff cut overnight patrol coverage because of staffing issues. The week that was scheduled to happen, the county approved a pay raise for deputies.
We've also seen recent pay raises for IMPD to recruit more officers here in the city.