Hurst, other North Texas cities step up police recruiting with high starting salaries

If you’re thinking of becoming a police officer, you may want to consider what Hurst has to offer: a starting salary of almost $75,000.

In fact, the “hiring” salary is $74,755.22, and the post-probation salary is $81,848.

Hurst is among the highest-paying cities in Tarrant County for police officers, and officials hope that advertising the starting salaries and other changes such as requiring fewer college hours and allowing officers to show their tattoos as long as they are not offensive will entice more people to join the force.

Other cities including Arlington and Euless are also offering high starting salaries.

Assistant Chief Billy Keadle said in an interview that the high salaries are not new in Hurst, but the department needs to fill several vacant positions because of retirements.

On Saturday, the department is offering a test for prospective candidates.

Keadle said Hurst and other cities are competing for candidates as there are fewer people.

“Like everyone else, we’re struggling to fill our openings,” he said.

City Manager Clay Caruthers said Hurst offers a high starting salary, and the city council recently approved a “mid career” step increase to bring police officers and firefighters in line with “total earnings” in other cities..

“Over their career, salaries for officers in Northeast Tarrant County tend to even out with Hurst officers earning a higher salary at the front-end of their career while neighboring cities tend to pay more on the back-end,” he said.

Keadle said Hurst also changed other requirements such as lowering the number of college hours from 60 to 30 and waiving that requirement if someone has prior police or military experience.

Hurst is also allowing officers to show their tattoos when wearing short-sleeved uniform shirts as long as they are not offensive.

Keadle said the department recently allowed visible tattoos because more people have them, and they are becoming more acceptable.

Other cities including North Richland Hills also allow officers to display their tattoos.

In Arlington, Police Chief Al Jones said in a news release that the city is constantly looking at recruiting to fill vacancies.

“The reality is recruiting requires more effort, ingenuity, and willingness to adapt than it ever has before,” Jones said.

In Arlington, the starting salary for an officer entering the academy is $68,123, and after five years, it jumps to $86,931.

Arlington also made other changes including offering a 13-week Lateral Transfer Academy for current law enforcement personnel who work at outside agencies, and waiving the four-year college degree requirement under certain conditions, according to the release.

In Euless, Police Chief Mike Brown said the council approved new salaries starting at $70,857. There is a five-year step plan to get officers to “top pay” at $94,242.

Euless has a very low turnover rate, Brown said, but on Wednesday an officer announced that he is retiring, so the department will have one vacancy.

“Our pay is very competitive, and our equipment is the best. We do a good job of bringing people into the organization, and they like it and stick around,” he said.

Brown said he doesn’t want Euless to be a training ground for officers who leave after five years.

“We want to bring in someone for 25, 30 years,” he said “You bring people in and they feel like they are a value to themselves and to the community.”