Police Chief Andre Achee presented an update to Bethel City Council on the department’s recruiting efforts since the city gave it the ability to raise its salary budget by more than 25 percent.
The chief reported that the department is still only at 50 percent capacity, with many of the officers working two weeks on, two weeks off.
These officers do not get benefits, but have a base pay of $60/hour with $90/hour for overtime.
Achee was not concerned that this was impacting the department’s spending ability, and said that he would not be seeking additional funds from council.
