PERU, Ind. — Police departments everywhere are struggling to find new officers.
The competition for fewer recruits has left the small city of Peru in Miami County with openings the police can't fill. Current officers say they're underpaid and burned out from filling in the gaps in public safety.
Officer Zach Adkins has patrolled the streets of Peru for six years. He recently worked 10 straight days and 27 hours of overtime in one week. Peru Police currently have four openings in a 28-person department. Other officers are injured, deployed, or in training and not able to patrol.
"It's already a struggle in law enforcement in general to find people that would like to do this job or have this career in law enforcement, but especially in our area, being that we're the lowest-paid around here,” said Adkins.
Overtime, double shifts and working days off have become the norm for Peru police officers.
"The main thing is just making sure we have enough people on the street to do the day-to-day activity that the public is entitled to and wants,” said Peru Police Chief Dan Sofianos, “whether it's me working, the assistant chief - everybody's trying to fill the holes to make sure we stay open."
Starting base pay for a Peru police officer is $43,802.36. A three-percent increase is budgeted for 2022. The city provides other significant benefits, but officers can find better pay in surrounding, usually larger police departments.
“We do need to be more competitive, especially if you take a look at some of the surrounding communities, their pay is a little bit more,” said Peru Mayor Miles Hewitt, who retired from the Peru Police Department after almost 39 years. “But the only thing is, they've got more of the tax base. We know that we have a problem here and we're having to deal with it. Unfortunately, it can't be fixed overnight because of the amount of time it takes to train a new officer."
Hewitt said even after a candidate is found, training can last almost a year before they are ready to patrol on their own.
The parking lot is indicative of the problem. Peru police officers get a take home car. But there are several units parked at city hall because the department doesn’t have officers assigned to those cars.
"Everyone wants the best for Peru, so do we,” said Sam Finnegan, a Peru police officer and president of the Miami County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 72, which represents Peru police officers. “But we also want to be able to keep you safe, at safe numbers, and working a safe amount of hours. Every officer here cares about the Peru Police Department. If not, they would have already left. So, the problem is, if we don't make some corrections, if we don't see that light at the end of the tunnel - we're probably going to have more guys go."
Police departments across the state are also trying to add officers, competing against each other to find the best recruits. The Indianapolis Metro Police Department is looking to hire 100 new officers. They are asking community members to push people to apply, saying that's how they will make the department more reflective of the community.
Indiana State Capitol Police are also hiring right now.