Winamac Police Department urges fix for officer retention issue

The Winamac Police Department is struggling to find ways to keep officers at the department, a challenge that is also currently plaguing many other small town police departments across the nation. Winamac Police Chief Tyler Campbell said that it is becoming critical to decide on some kind of incentive, or combination of incentives, to try to encourage officers to stay at the Winamac Police Department after they've been hired on. He pointed out that they no longer have competitive pay and they do not offer fringe benefits that other departments do such as duty phones or stipends, hotspots, take-home car programs and easy access to mental health assistance.