(KNSI) – Waite Park hopes to turn money saved from an understaffed force into a recruitment tool.
The city budgets for 22 officers but has struggled to get to that number in recent years. At Monday’s council meeting, funds originally slated for payroll will instead go to a second applicant to enroll in the Pathways to Policing program.
Waite Park was already awarded a Department of Public Safety grant for $27,751 to put one non-traditional candidate through a four-month course at Hennepin Technical College. Now it is hoping for another when classes begin in August. Waite Park Police Chief Dave Bentrud tells KNSI News they have one possibility, but nothing has been finalized yet.
The program takes a person with a two or four-year degree in any discipline and prepares them for a job in law enforcement. At the end of the class they will be able to pass the licensing exam and meet POST Board standards. The program pays a salary to the candidate during the process.
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