Mishawaka approves historic raises for police amid competitive market for law enforcement

MISHAWAKA — Touting it as the highest raise for any group of city employees in recent memory, Mishawaka officials recently approved raises for city police officers in an effort to keep up with a fiercely competitive law enforcement market and put more cops in the field.

The raises were approved unanimously by the Mishawaka Common Council last month and will see officers receive a 7% raise in 2023 along with a 5% raise in 2024. Though city attorneys are still working with the Fraternal Order of Police on the final language of the full contract, council member Mike Compton said the raises will go toward accomplishing the city’s goal of attracting officers.

“In the end, this was about, I think you see it, the completeness between different departments in the area,” Compton said. “So it was a lot of discussion about that and how do we keep Mishawaka a place people will want to come to and work?”

Council president Gregg Hixenbaugh agreed and said the new pay package makes Mishawaka more competitive in “an era where there is much more of a demand and opportunity for police officers to move from community to community.”

For 2022, a patrolman first class — the rank that makes up the majority of the Mishawaka Police Department — made around $64,500. By 2024, that number will rise to approximately $72,500.

However not everyone is confident the money will attract officers to Mishawaka. FOP president Rich Freeman said the new salaries are a step in the right direction, but that Mishawaka is still playing “catch up” after other area departments have seen larger increases in recent years.

In October, South Bend police received an 8% raise for 2023, and by 2025, a patrolman third class in South Bend will make around $77,000. Starting officers in St. Joseph County also are in the middle of seeing a 20% increase in wages from 2022 to 2024 and most Elkhart officers will see an 8% bump in 2023.

Michiana is not alone in seeing pay hikes for police as law enforcement agencies around the country are facing declining numbers of applicants and are increasing salaries to keep staffing up. Last week, Gov. Eric Holcomb cited rising salaries across Indiana in his goal to increase starting state trooper pay to $70,000.

When announcing the recent raises for South Bend officers, South Bend Mayor James Mueller called the city’s package “bold and aggressive,” a phrase Freeman said does not fully apply to Mishawaka.

“There’s a lot of good things in there that the officers and the city benefit from, but I think it could have been a little more — to steal a quote from South Bend — ‘bold and aggressive,’ and it didn’t hit that mark for me. But time will tell,” he said.

'Bold and aggressive':South Bend, police union say new contract could lead to fully-staffed department by 2024

Mishawaka Police Chief Ken Witkowski declined to speak about the new contract until it is fully approved by the city.

The council also approved raises for Mishawaka firefighters of 5% over each of the next two years as part of the same ordinance.

More officers on the street

The hope from both parties is that the raises attract enough officers to allow Mishawaka to put more police in the field at a given time.

Right now, the FOP contract stipulates that there must be a minimum of 10 officers on patrol at any given time, but by 2024, city officials hope that number can get up to 11.

Hixenbaugh and Compton said they’ve repeatedly heard from neighborhood groups about the need for more officers on patrol, and Freeman also supports the idea, if feasible, as more manpower increases officer safety and lets police be more proactive.

“There was unanimous unanimity that enhancing the number of officers available to patrol our streets on a regular, daily basis was in everyone’s best interests,” Hixenbaugh said.

However, before that happens, the department must hire more officers. Currently, the department is at 98 sworn officers out of a budgeted number of 114, per Witkowski.

Beyond the base pay increases, Mishawaka officers will earn bonus pay if they serve on specialty units like SWAT, major crimes or the Special Victims Unit. Hixenbaugh said emergency overtime rates were also bumped up to two times normal pay from 1½ times and the city will also pay a $2,500 bonus to all officers who reside in Mishawaka city limits.

“I think it’s universally accepted that having familiarity with your community, being a neighbor as well as a police officer, enhances the ability of officers to do the good work we all want them to do,” Hixenbaugh said regarding the residency stipend.

Freeman estimated just under 25% of officers currently live in Mishawka and doubts the bonus will convince many to move to the city.

The full contract is expected to be hammered out in the coming weeks and will go up for council approval likely in early February, Hixenbaugh said.

The raises for Mishawaka police also come after a 5% pay increase from 2021 to 2022, as well as a $2,500 bonus the city gave to all police and firefighters as a reward for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Mishawaka approves historic raises for police to attract more officers