Several police departments in Central Texas are hiring - including Hewitt, Temple and Belton.
Hewitt Police, which hires certified and non-certified applicants, has one open position for a patrol officer. If the candidate is not certified, he or she will start at $37,500 while they go through the police academy. If that person is certified, they will start as an entry-level police officer which has a starting salary of $40,573. The deadline to apply is June 11 by 5 p.m. and the civil service exam will take place on June 16.
Hewitt Police Chief James Devlin encourages people to apply to his department, which he said has a great work environment.
“We have excellent partnerships with the citizens, the corporations and with the school district. We communicate with each other on a daily basis on the needs. We have a great rapport from our citizens. We have a huge community policing aspect that we push," Devlin said.“It’s a great place to be. Crime rate is low. I try very hard take care of our employees on a professional and a personal level.”
Patrol Officer Sean Stephens who has been working in Hewitt for three and a half years said he enjoys being able to have a more direct role in the department, including helping detectives with investigations. In addition, he said he likes the community policing aspect in the city.
“I think it helps us get information from them when we may need it. It helps us work with them. They are more willing to provide us with things that we might need to do our job," Stephens said.
He plans to remain in that department for a while.
"It’s a good place to work. There is a lot of opportunities that I wouldn’t be afforded necessarily at bigger agencies," Stephens said.
Temple Police has nine cadet positions open right now. The cadets would go through the academy to become a police office earning a salary of $42,560. The pay will increase during the 18-month probationary period to $44,296. After the 18-month period, the pay rate will be $46,390. Temple PD also accepts applications from officers who are certified and have worked at another agency and had a minimum of one-year road experience. The hired officers would receive a $1,500 sign on bonus at the time of hiring, and once their probationary period is completed, they would receive another $1,500. In Temple, the deadline to apply is August 2.
“We love Temple and the things we get to do for this community. Some of the things specific to being a peace officer are the different pay scale and pay opportunities that you would have for advancing your career while working at Temple," Temple Police Media Relations Specialist Ellen Morton said.
Belton Police is also hiring non-certified and licensed police officers. The non-certified applications will have to attend the regional police academy earning at $31,500. Certified applicants with experience will receive a $3,000 hiring incentive. The deadline to apply to become an officer in Belton is June 8 at 5 p.m.
Harker Heights Police is hiring two officers with certified through the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Those hired will be paid $38,145 during field training and $56,165 after field training. The application deadline is June 6.
Copperas Cove Police will start hiring for two positions later this month. The starting salary for a hired officer will be $16.52 per hour while in the Academy. The pay during the field training program will increase to $18.08 per hour. Once that training is completed, those hired will be paid $21.49 an hour.
Central Texas News Now is still waiting to hear back from Killeen Police regarding if the department plans to hire any additional officers.
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