The City of Lander’s new salary structure has already had a positive impact on employee recruitment, police chief Scott Peters said this week.
“The raise that you guys gave (has) stepped that up,” he told the Lander City Council during a regular meeting Tuesday. “So thank you for that.”
He had spoken to the council earlier this year about the difficulties the Lander Police Department has experienced when trying to recruit new officers to town.
The wage increase seems to have improved the situation, Peters said, pointing to an open detective position that has already garnered “multiple applications.”
“One of the driving forces (for that) was the pay raises,” Peters said.
Under Lander’s old salary structure, new police officers with no experience were paid $41,833, city treasurer Charri Lara said, and new detectives earned $47,416.
Now, new officers come in with a starting salary of $46,456, and new detectives are paid $52,655.