ST. LOUIS — A new bill awaits the signature of St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones. It penalizes St. Louis police officers who leave soon after graduating from the police academy.
When St. Louis metro police officers finish their training, the department expects them to stay on the force for at least four years.
But, that doesn't always happen.
The St. Louis Board of Aldermen passed a measure to get officers to stay for at least two years or pay the city back the cost of their law enforcement training.
They passed Board Bill 195 unanimously on Monday.
The summary of the bill says both “trainees who don’t accept law enforcement positions with the City or who leave their City law enforcement positions in a short period of time” could be held responsible for paying back the cost of their six-month police academy training.
The cost adds up to almost $37,000.
The average starting salary at SLMPD is around $48,000.
Over the past year, a number of city officers turned in their uniforms with some on the force calling it an "exodus".
5 On Your Side's Christine Byers looked into the department's shrinking force numbers months ago.
The latest numbers are from 2021. Last year, 178 police officers left the department. Normally, between 75 to 90 officers leave in a given year.