KMSP-TV said that all of the police officers in a small town in Minnesota turned in their retirement letters last week.
In late July, at a meeting of the city council, Goodhue Police Chief Josh Smith told city officials that his department was having a difficult time finding new people to work there.
“There are no candidates, and I have no prospects. I’ve called every police department in the area to find the younger players. No one is joining the game,” Smith informed the city council.
Smith said that the city’s wages of $22 per hour wasn’t enough to keep cops, so they left for bigger towns nearby. Smaller departments reportedly paid as least $30 an hour, according to Smith.
“Not that I’ll be leaving all you guys, since I’ve told you all that I was in it,” Smith stated in the July meeting, according to the Star Tribune. “But the harsh truth is that I do not want to have to be the guy who works 80 hours per week simply to run this PD, stays on call a full 24 hours a day, which I currently do, and I have no spare time for my family.”
Even though the city council allegedly raised pay by 5% and provided Smith with a $13,000 raise earlier in the year, Smith’s pay was still not on par with that of other nearby offices.
“If you would like to keep the PD, something will need to be changed dramatically and also drastically right now,” said Smith.
Last week, Smith, who is a full-time cop on the Goodhue police team, along with five part-time officers all quit. The seven police officers will keep working until August 24. After that, the Goodhue County Sheriff’s department will take over their cases.
This week, city officials met at Goodhue City Hall for a last-minute meeting to talk about the resignations.
“I think we were all caught off guard by it,” said Mayor Ellen Anderson Buck. “But we’re strong, and we are going to move on.”
