Lawmakers say "poacher bill" will help retain Detroit police officers
(CBS DETROIT) - Legislation was signed Tuesday, essentially closing a loophole when it comes to police academy training with the Detroit Police Department.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs what lawmakers are coining the "poacher bill", which looks to retain officers after the police academy. It costs about $35,000 per attendee of DPD's academy and these bills make them repay those expenses if they choose to leave early after training.
"If they're taking that experience and training and selling it elsewhere, everybody who's benefitting from it should share the expense," says DPD Assistant Police Chief David LeValley.
"For the last several years, we've experienced a situation where we have a number of individuals that get hired with the Detroit Police Department, stay a very short period of time when they graduate the police academy, and then they leave and go to other police agencies," LeValley added.
LeValley knows their academy is not only a good one, but costly too. However, after seeing numerous new officers leave, they're seeing taxpayer funds for their officers, leaving for other communities.
"The biggest area was the first three years. That's where we lost the most," says LeValley.
The bills call to recuperate 100% of academy training costs if they leave the agency within one year, 75% if they leave between one and two years, 50% if they leave between two and three years, and 25% if they leave between three and four years.
"We call it the poacher bill because other departments will come and poach," says District 1 State Rep. Tyrone Carter. "I've literally watched other cities stood in the audience and talk about recruiting," Carter adds.
Carter is retired from law enforcement and says he's witnessed those "poaching conversations" at academy graduations. He and LeValley both agree, the investments made into the city should stay in the city longer than just a few months or years.
"We're putting up taxpayer dollars, whether it's any city that's training somebody that they're going to hire," Carter adds.
