Mar. 3—Higher wages have helped the Joplin Police Department attract and retain officers, but changes in work schedules and recruiting also seem to be helping fill staffing vacancies.

Some of the changes were recommended early last year in a study done by Mountain Home, Arkansas, human resources consultant, Timothy J. Freesmeyer, of Etico Solutions Inc.

Police Chief Sloan Rowland, who in July said that the department's officers were at a breaking point because of workload, told two resident groups this week that conditions at the department are improving. He said vacant positions are down to 10 now, when there were more than double that number a year ago.

There are 41 applicants going through the hiring process at this time, he told members of the city of Joplin's Finance Committee and the Use Tax Implementation and Oversight Committee this week.

The finance committee, made up of a group of residents appointed by the City Council to study issues assigned by the council and provide conclusions and recommendations, was convened after Joplin voters in August turned down a ballot measure, Proposition Public Safety. That proposal would have assessed $1 on both property and personal property taxes per $100 assessed value that was intended to fund an increased pay scale for police officers and firefighters. It was estimated that $8.5 million would be needed to implement a new pay scale and the taxes would generate about $9 million annually.

Turnover struggle

City officials have been struggling with a way to trim turnover in the police and fire departments. The police department has 110 positions, the chief said. A recent manpower study concluded that 22 additional officers were needed above the department's 110 to cover the volume of calls and other duties the department handles.

But the police study provided some insight into issues that the department has since addressed in addition to city officials providing raises, the police chief said.

In September, officers received raises that averaged 11.7% as part of a labor agreement reached with the city. That is not as much as they would have had with Proposition Public Safety, but it moved trainee pay to more than $34,000 and new officer pay to about $40,000. Those hired with police officer certification and experience from other departments can receive a $10,000 bonus.

Those pay raises followed a citywide across-the-board 9% increase in 2020. Raises amounted to 3% or less in previous years. The city fell behind in pay in 2015-16 when no raises were given and in 2017 when workers were cut to balance the city budget and give 3% raises.

Since the police and fire wage increases in the last few months, the city administration also seeks a way to pay for wage and salary increases for other city workers, saying the city maintains around 100 openings across departments. Employment lags largely because of pay issues, according to studies the city has conducted.

Recruitment changes

But the police department also has made changes in recruitment efforts and other ways to attract candidates and retain more of its existing officers.

Rowland said there are 81 officers on duty at the current time because the department usually always has some in police academy, out on leave for military service or for advanced police training, sick leave or vacations.

"We're kind of rebuilding," he said. "Ten officer openings right now is phenomenal when you look at this time last year. The high was 23, but we averaged 21. So we're doing a lot better as far as officer retention."

To do that, the department also has expanded its recruitment outreach. In the past, recruitment efforts focused on police academies, but now that effort includes outreach to people getting out of military service at Fort Leonard Wood where a lot of military police officers are trained. The department also has increased social media presence and video recruiting.

There is some success now recruiting experienced officers. Nine have been hired and there are two in the process, the chief said. Those are officers who would be eligible for the bonus.

The department has expanded its intern program and is recruiting some job candidates that way.

Policy reforms

Additionally, the department has changed its policy on beards and tattoos.

"We need to mirror what our community is and our citizens are right now, and we weren't doing that effectively before," the chief said. Allowing beards and noncontroversial tattoos has helped with recruiting.

"The city pay raises have certainly helped us out," the chief said.

But the department also has moved to a new work schedule, the Pitman schedule, a work plan that has teams working 12-hour shifts in a rotation over a two-week period. While many officers previously did not have any weekends off because of the old work schedule, this schedule provides them every other weekend off, which some officers prefer, Rowland said.

It was one of the changes recommended by the study.

But the patrol division has little time to do much other than respond to calls for service, which can lead to job burnout. An increased number of officers would help reduce the time officers spend running from call to call to make time for other duties such as watching known crime areas to build cases and increase security, traffic monitoring and community policing efforts.

Officer shifts formerly were four 10-hour shifts with four days on duty and three days off. There were three weekly schedules with one being all nights, one requiring all weekends, and another all early day shifts. Those who work the weekend shifts never get weekend days off with their families, Freesmeyer said in delivering the study results. Those who work only nights are more susceptible to fatigue on the job, he said.

The shift change also puts more officers on the streets to monitor traffic and make traffic stops, patrol neighborhoods and make business checks.

Advanced training also is available now. In addition, the department offers a wellness program that takes better care of employees, the chief said.

Additionally, the department has gone to the use of equipment vests rather than belts, which reduces back problem caused by wearing the heavy belts, and using larger police cars that are move visible and comfortable to drive than the smaller models the department had.

All of the changes are aimed at rebuilding the department and retaining officers and much of it came from a study commissioned for ideas on how to improve employee retention and attraction.

"Our turnover rate was atrocious," the chief said. The department started tracking the rate in 2012 and from then until 2022 there had been 150 officers who left the department.