There were plenty of open seats at Monday’s Great Bend City Council meeting, including a couple by Great Bend Police Chief Cliff Couch in the back row. It was a different scene compared to the previous meeting on June 5 when citizens lined the hallways and sat on the floor of City Hall to hear Couch speak about the turnover rate and inadequate staffing at the Police Department.
Nothing was said at Monday’s meeting regarding the Police Department until the review of the city staff goals for 2017 and 2018 that was discussed following the conclusion of the council meeting.
Council member Cory Zimmerman echoed the comments of council member Dana Dawson that getting the police department fully staffed should be one of the top priorities going forward.
Cory Zimmerman Audio
The Police Department was operating with 25 employees, five short of a full staff. Compensation and being overworked were two of the main reasons for the current turnover, and Couch mentioned at the June 5 meeting that city administration told him to keep the Police Department’s struggles quiet.
At the June 19 meeting, it was announced that recent interview processes resulted in one new hire. Couch says his department has received a lot of support from the community over the last two weeks.
Cliff Couch Audio
The new officer will start on June 26. The Department will hold another tryout day to obtain more officers on June 29.
Couch says he has not heard anything from administration or the governing body over the last two weeks on ways to address the officer shortage outside of a few of the council members’ suggestions at Monday’s goal session.