By Chadwick Dolgos
-Public Safety-
Effective immediately, Stowe Township officials Feb. 9 hired police officers Justin Ball and Alex Carmody to join the squad.
The new hires were approved by the board to join Stowe’s police department less than one month after the township approved a motion to increase part-time police officers’ starting wage from $15 to $18 an hour.
A third applicant was being considered, but requires more testing before being hired onto the force.
Stowe’s police department, with help from the board, have been seeking creative solutions to attract new hires, with the starting wage increase being the latest and most successful effort.
“I think you guys bumping it up and increasing the salary helped out a little,” said Chief Matt Preininger during the board’s Feb. 8 workshop meeting.
Even with the wage increase, applications are slowly trickling in.
“Unfortunately, in today’s world, people don’t want to be police officers,” said Board President Robin Parrilla.
The department continues to seek new applicants.
“Our door is open,” Preininger said.