The Ames Police Department will soon offer signing bonuses to potential officers to combat a possible shortage.

Hiring bonuses of $2,500 will be offered to officers who are already certified by the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and meet the standard qualifications of the Police Department, said Dennis Ballantine, Ames Chief of Police.

Ballantine said the reason for instituting the financial incentive, which was approved by the Ames City Council at its meeting Tuesday night, is to attract trained officers to replace the five to eight officers leaving the department soon due to retirement and occupational changes.

Ballantine did stress, however, that his department is not currently experiencing any serious shortage.

“I’m trying to, at least on some of the hires, put officers on the streets earlier,” he said.

Ames City Councilwoman Ann Campbell said she thought the bonuses were a good idea.

“Right now, they are short-staffed and are needing to get officers on board with incentives to come and stay,” Campbell said. “It is quite costly to train people.”

Ballantine said in the long run, the bonuses will save the city money because taxpayers won’t have to pay for temporary services or for officers to go through the academy to get certified.

The Muscatine Police Department was the first in the state to start offering hiring bonuses to attract trained officers. Muscatine Police Chief Gary Coderoni said his department began offering a $2,000 signing bonus to graduates of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy last January, and the program has been successful.

Coderoni said he figured offering the bonuses to already certified officers saved the city of Muscatine between $7,000 to $8,000 on each officer hired.

Normally, the Ames Police Department would not have bothered with offering bonuses for the average one or two people who leave each year, Ballantine said. But in this case, he felt it was necessary because of the number of officers planning to leave the department in the near future.

Ballantine also noted his department is not lacking in officers.

“We have never had a problem getting qualified men and women to apply,” he said.

The hiring bonuses will be offered during the next round of hiring, Ballantine said.