(Spirit Lake)– The Spirit Lake city council has set the starting salary for the new Police Chief.
Jeff Hanson was promoted to the top job last month. He’ll be paid 55,500-dollars a year. Mayor Eric Nielsen says he believes the transition to a new chief has gone well.
Former Chief Jon Martyr was paid about 59-thousand a year.
Action by the council Tuesday also put the starting hourly wage for patrol officers at $15.11 an hour for officers without academy training and $16.11 an hour for those who have been certified by a law enforcement academy. The recommendation came from the city council’s Public Safety Committee chaired by councilman Kevin Bice. Bice says good wages are necessary for the police force to ensure stability and good morale. Councilmembers Jeff Thee and Duane Yager, a former Chief, chimed in-Thee pointing out police officers face potentially dangerous situations daily and Yager commenting officers today put in many extra hours for training.
Councilperson Barb Ricke cast the lone no vote on the police compensation issue.
