Detroit could fight officer exodus to suburbs — by charging them to leave

Detroiters pay to train new police officers who quickly leave to work in the suburbs, costing the city millions, according to the city's assistant police chief. But a new law approved by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday could help Detroit recover the costs of training officers who don't stick around or encourage newly trained officers not to leave the city's police force in the first place.

"We have experienced over the last several years a large number of individuals joining the Detroit Police Department for the training with an apparent plan to leave for suburban police departments shortly thereafter," Detroit Police Department Assistant Chief David LeValley said during a legislative hearing on the new law.

"I've been told that some agencies have actually encouraged individuals to do so. And we have even had police chiefs and command staff from suburban police departments attend our academy graduations only to have a recruit resign the next day and go work for that agency," LeValley added.

Michigan currently prohibits employers from receiving fees, gifts, tips or other forms of remuneration as a condition of employment. But two Democratic lawmakers from Detroit — state Sen. Sylvia Santana and state Rep. Tyrone Carter — introduced legislation that received bipartisan support to create an exception for law enforcement agencies, allowing them to recoup training costs from new recruits who spend fewer than four years working for an agency. Similar bills introduced by the pair stalled in previous legislative sessions.

Tuition costs for law enforcement training academies in Michigan range from $6,000 to $10,000, according to a Senate Fiscal Agency analysis. While most academies charge recruits tuition, the Detroit Police Department operates its own training academy at a cost of about $35,000 per attendee and provides wages and benefits to trainees, according to LeValley.

He said 58% of officers who left the department since 2020 had fewer than four years of service with the Detroit Police Department. Among those who left, the cost to the department of recruiting, hiring and training them was an estimated $6,389,000, he said.

The legislation signed by Whitmer creates a sliding scale for repaying training costs based on how long an officer spent at the department before leaving to work at another law enforcement agency.

If an officer spends less than a year, the agency could recoup 100% of the cost of the training up to the officer's first-year salary. But if an officer spends more than three but less than four years, the agency could only recover 25% of the cost up to the officer's salary for their first year of employment.

The law also specifies that remuneration for the cost of the law enforcement training academy would be waived if a new officer voluntarily leaves the law enforcement agency for work in a different profession altogether.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan celebrated the legislation Whitmer signed into law. "For too long, police recruits knew they could receive the best training available at DPD, and then take that training to a suburban department that paid them more," he said in a statement.

Detroit City Council last year approved raises for officers, aimed at keeping them in the city. Now, the new law requiring reimbursements for training from those eyeing work outside the city will help Detroit's police department retain officers and make neighborhoods safer, Duggan said.

Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: New Detroit police officers could be forced to pay if they leave