Lawmakers Pass 'Poacher Bill' to Help Retain Detroit Police Officers
Michigan lawmakers passed a bill aimed at stopping other agencies from "poaching" recently trained officers in the Detroit Police Department.
The legislation, which was signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, would make officers responsible for repaying the expense of their police academy training if they leave the department early, WKBD-TV reports. Officer training at the Detroit police academy costs roughly 35,000 per person.
"We call it the 'poacher bill' because other departments will come and poach," said State Rep. Tyrone Carter. "I've literally watched other cities stood in the audience and talk about recruiting."
Carter, a retired law enforcement officer, says he's heard those "poaching conversations" at academy graduations. And he thinks it's critical that investments made by the city shouldn't be lost so quickly.
"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," said Assistant Police Chief David LeValley.
Under the measure, an officer must repay 100% of academy training costs if they leave the department in a year. It's down to 75% if they leave within one and two years; 50% if it's within two and three years; and 25% if an officer leaves within three and four years.
"If they're taking that experience and training and selling it elsewhere, everybody who's benefitting from it should share the expense," said LeValley.
