Job jumpers may have to pay

Officers, dispatchers who leave positions within three years of hire may have to reimburse city

Posted 1/28/25

Going forward, new Powell Police Department employees who jump to another job could get a bill from the city.

Under a policy adopted by the Powell City Council last week, new officers and …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Job jumpers may have to pay

Officers, dispatchers who leave positions within three years of hire may have to reimburse city

Posted

Going forward, new Powell Police Department employees who jump to another job could get a bill from the city.

Under a policy adopted by the Powell City Council last week, new officers and dispatchers who leave within their first three years will generally be required to reimburse the city for some of the training they’ve received.

Officers who resign within a year of completing the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy will owe the city $3,500. If they leave within two years, they’ll be billed $2,345 — or $1,155 if they depart before completing their third year. Because their training isn’t as expensive, dispatchers will owe more modest sums of $1,500, $1,005 or $495, respectively. After three years of service, they’re free to leave without penalty.

City Administrator Zack Thorington said one aim is to prevent employees from “just jumping ship as soon as they get done and going to another agency, with the City of Powell footing the bill.”

Prior to the new policy, “there’s really nothing stopping anyone [from] doing that,” Thorington said at the Jan. 20 meeting, “and there still really isn’t, other than a dollar amount for reimbursement.”

He mentioned that a couple dispatchers left for the Park County Sheriff’s Office last year after serving with the city for about 18 months.

The new Training Reimbursement Agreement will only apply to future officers and dispatchers, who must sign the three-page document before coming on board.

Under the terms of the agreement, candidates do not have to repay the city if they suffer a disabling illness or injury, experience “unforeseen extraordinary circumstances” or fail to successfully complete their training or probationary period. However, the city can still seek payment if it discovers an employee misrepresented their qualifications or “caused their dismissal, failure, illness or injury in an attempt to avoid paying liquidated damages.”

Thorington said other Wyoming communities, including the City of Cody, already have similar agreements in place and Powell Police Chief Jim Rhea described them as pretty common. 

Basic peace officer training at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy takes roughly 12 weeks and over 600 hours of instruction, while dispatchers must complete a roughly two-week course with over 80 hours of training, Rhea said. That’s on top of roughly 16 and 12 weeks of field training that the department itself provides to its officers and dispatchers, respectively.

The new reimbursement agreement is meant to say, “we poured a lot of money into you to be an officer or dispatcher for the City of Powell, and you are leaving prematurely ... for whatever reason … and now, the city is stuck with the training bill,” Rhea wrote in an email.

He said the contract is further proof of the department’s and city’s “strong stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”

At the meeting, Mayor John Wetzel said he’s heard of agencies in other states charging close to $5,000 to officers who walk away after the academy — and that other employers are implementing similar requirements related to commercial driver’s license training. Wetzel said the city’s reimbursement agreement seemed “pretty reasonable.”

The Powell Police Department currently has a full slate of dispatchers and two vacant patrol officer positions.

Comments

No comments on this story    Please log in to comment by clicking here
Please log in or register to add your comment