DUSON, La. (AP) - The city of Duson police will soon have a bigger police force and bigger salaries after the town’s aldermen approved hiring two officers and raising the starting pay.
This is the first effort by new Police Chief Kip Judice who was appointed to the position by the city aldermen March 17.
“It was so critical that we get some help and get increased pay so we get some quality people,” Judice said.
Judice will retire Thursday after working for 30 years at the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office. He will begin his new job as police chief Friday.
“What I want to do is establish some good policy guidelines - some structure for these employees - and maintain a professional law enforcement agency,” Judice said. “I don’t think that was something that was being done.”
The Advocate (https://bit.ly/1KncMhY) reports former Police Chief Frank Andrew was fired in July amid allegations of malfeasance.
Once the new officers are hired, the current offers will experience some relief from working daily 12-hour shifts.
Judice said he hopes to make additional hires later.
“(Four officers are) not going to be enough to sustain us, but it will give us some time to decompress from this job. Then we’ll start working on the bigger picture,” Judice said.
The department will also raise its starting salary from about $2,300 a month to $3,000 a month. The Sheriff’s Office, in comparison, starts its deputies at about $2,500 a month.
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Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com
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