Back in Blue
By Paul Schweizer
For about 6 months now LMPD has been trying to work out a program to fill some of the holes in our platoon rosters. We have seen our authorized strength dwindle down to unmanageable numbers. The Department has been hiring large recruit classes and lateral Officers from other agencies, but they still have not been enough to fill all the vacancies. This new program will target a specific group of people.
LMPD will soon have all the bugs worked out of a program designed to recruit and re-hire former Louisville Police Officers, Jefferson County Police Officers and Louisville Metro Officers. Who would better know about policing around here than someone that has already done it?
There will be some restrictions obviously, but the savings to the department will be great and the cost of the ?Old Hats? will be less than when they left the department and there won't be a 26 week training cost and transition.
Many of the issues are being worked out now with the FOP and the Department regarding contractual obligation, seniority and assignments. It goes without saying that the newly rehired people won't come back to specialty units or day work positions, but they will fill positions on late watch a mid watch platoons most likely.
Some people have questioned the rehiring of someone that has already retired. Look at it this way. In every job throughout every walk of life the longer you have been there the more experience you have in general. We are losing many of our best and brightest to other agencies because when they reach 20 years they can draw a pension and work full time somewhere else. Why should LMPD let these people slip away? The answer is they shouldn't.
If they can rehire a trained Officer and ultimately pay less into the retirement system and rehire him at a lower rate than when he retired, then everybody wins.
It will be interesting to see how this program works out.