DePue to increase salaries

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

DEPUE – In an attempt to better recruit village police officers, the village of DePue has agreed to give pay raises to its full-time and part-time patrolmen.

The move came Monday, when DePue trustees approved general wage increases for village employees.

Village President Eric Bryant said trustees agreed to raise pay for DePue police officers because the village has tried to recruit additional officers for more than a year, without much success.

“This isn’t something new,” he said.

But here’s what is new: A $2.50 hourly increase in wages for DePue’s full-time and part-time police officers.

According to a village agreement, the raise will bump pay for part-time officers from $14 an hour $16.50. Full-time officers will get an hourly wage increase from $15 to $17.50.

Bryant acknowledged the raises appear to be “a lot.” But he told reporters the village has been “way behind” in wage increases for its police officers, particularly for its part-time patrolmen.

“We’re trying to attract some people. We didn’t get hardly any responses to our advertising before,” Bryant told reporters.

He said DePue faces challenges in police recruitment because it’s competing with higher-budget police departments in Princeton, Spring Valley and Oglesby.

Bryant said he wishes the village could offer its officers even more money.

“We’re trying to do the best that we can with the money that we have,” he said.

Bryant said talk of pay increases for DePue police has drawn interest from potential police recruits. In fact, following a closed session Monday, the village board approved hiring an additional part-time officer.

The new officer, Mike Olzewski, will work one, 10-hour shift per week, village clerk Jane Vickers said.

Prior to Monday, DePue’s police department had been staffed with three part-time patrol officers and one full-time officer, Bryant said.

Meanwhile, Bryant said DePue Police Chief Mike West is seeking federal grant sources to fund upgrades for “a lot of the equipment inside of (village) squad cars.”

According to Bryant, DePue’s police vehicles currently are not outfitted with computers. They’re also in need of updated breathalyzer equipment, he said. Bryant indicated federal funding could be used to purchase that equipment.

Also on Monday, the board approved pay rates of $21.07 per hour for the Superintendent of Public Works, and $16.62 per hour for village maintenance employees.

Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.