‘We do have to do something’: Police shortages affect rural Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A law enforcement shortage throughout Nebraska is affecting numbers of police officers at stations, especially in rural towns.

The incentives to work in a larger city are often influential in an officer’s decision to leave a small town.

“A lot of these agencies will start them off at a higher rate rather than having them start off as a day one officer,” said Jim Maguire, the president of the Nebraska Fraternal Order of Police.

This has been an ongoing problem for small agencies throughout Nebraska, and they are struggling to retain officers due to the higher pay and better benefits that come in bigger cities.

“They will bounce around until they’re able to get hired on by these bigger agencies,” he said.

Another problem faced by cities throughout the state is that they do not have qualified applicants.

“We do have to do something, we need more applicants, and we need to look everywhere to see how are we going to get the right people to apply,” Maguire said.