The Jefferson Police Department continues to undergo some staffing changes.

Late last year, the department lost two officers and hired one back. Here in January, one more officer has already left the department and another is slated to leave towards the end of the month. So in total, the department will be down three of its eight officers. Jefferson Mayor Craig Berry says there’s a trend happening across the state in law enforcement.

“There is a shortage all across Iowa. What it has turned into is Peter robbing from Paul. Different departments robbing the ones who are offering more money are offering to the smaller departments, like what we are, and they are stealing people away from them.”

One of the former officers took a job with the Webster County Sheriff’s office, another went to the Greene County Sheriff’s office. A third officer moved back to Texas to be closer to his family and the fourth officer will be joining the Iowa State Patrol as a trooper at the end of this month.   We’ve previously reported to help combat this issue, the City Council approved a new incentive program for the police department which included a signing bonus and a student loan payback system that is tied to the officer’s four-year contract.

The most recent hire, Andrew Chapman, officially became an officer on December 28th and he says the incentive package certainly helped to make his decision to move back to Greene County to become an officer.

“Looking at other departments out there they do have incentives and I think this one really matches what the community can offer. So yeah I think it really was beneficial and kind of a highlight when I did see the package to say, ‘This is much more easy than it could’ve been.’”

City Administrator Mike Palmer says the police department has selected some more candidates and he expects to hire them within the next couple of city council meetings.