Publisher’s Perspective

By Tim Douglass, Publisher of the Pope County Tribune

The difficulty law enforcement agencies have recruiting and retaining state troopers, police officers and sheriff’s deputies has been widely reported.   There’s a bill at the Minnesota State Capitol aimed at helping solve part of that problem by focusing on the retention of Minnesota State Troopers.

“This bill enables state law enforcement officers to continue their service without facing financial penalties when they reach retirement age,” said Mike LeDoux,  president of the Minnesota State Troopers Association, who testified in the House State and Local Government Committee.

Under current law, the mandatory retirement age for Minnesota state law enforcement, including troopers and DNR officers, is age 60. However, most troopers retire by age 55 because that’s when they mostly max out the amount of retirement benefits they’ll earn. The bill before the legislature, HF 4553, would allow troopers to retire for a day at age 55 so they can begin collecting retirement benefits. Then they can rejoin the State Patrol and continue collecting retirement benefits while also collecting a paycheck.

“This bill directly addresses the pressing need by incentivizing retired State Patrol plan members to rejoin service without impacting their retirement annuity,” LeDoux said.

At this point, the bill is still in committee.  We’re not sure its an overall solution, but it’s a good step that would help with retaining and recruiting.

In Greater Minnesota, the problem of attracting and retaining police officers is also a daunting issue.  Most who are trained and qualified for the job, pass up small towns like Glenwood or Starbuck because they can get paid more by counties or larger metro area communities.

Once they get some experience, they leave for greener pastures.  And that’s if the smaller towns can attract them in the first place.

Glenwood Police Chief Dale Danter has had authorization to hire another full-time police officer for well over a year.  In that time, only a couple of people have even applied.  And when they did, they quickly balked at the compensation offered as well as the fact that officers often work alone and “backup” wasn’t always available quickly.

Small towns like Glenwood  and Starbuck require top quality police officers just like larger counties and metro-area communities.  Most cities want the autonomy of operating a local police department, but officer availability has dwindled for a number of reasons, including budget constraints that limit compensation and the size of the department.

Local Governnent Aid (LGA) came about because the state legislature realized that necessary services like police and fire departments in small towns needed state backing.  Police and fire equipment and vehicles for small towns cost the same as they do in the suburbs and metro area, yet most small communities don’t have the tax base to make those purchases.

Maybe the legislature needs to provide the necessary funding through LGA to adequately conpensate police officers in Greater Minnesota.  Afterall, our officers require the same training and equipment as larger, wealthier cities.