Police require three-year commitment from recruits
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Northborough - Police officers hired by the town and sent to one of the state academies for training will be required to sign a contract stipulating that they will remain with the town as a member of its force for at least three years.

The selectmen unanimously voted the stipulation into effect at their Dec. 10 meeting.

The matter was brought before the board by Police Chief Mark Leahy, who explained to the board that the cost to the town of sending an officer to the 16-week training is $2,500.

Officers repay the amount, Leahy said, through incremental payroll withdrawals.

The police chief's concern, which he shared with the board, is that there is currently nothing that prevents the recently-trained officer from leaving the Northborough Police Department the day after graduation, leaving the town with the cost of training, not to mention the need to begin the process all over again.

"An officer could essentially walk out after graduation and keep on walking and we have no recourse," Leahy said.

Leahy's proposal, which the selectmen endorsed, is for the town to pay the $2,500 fee to have the officer attend the Police Academy, but have him/her sign a contract committing to remain with the town for three years. If the officer does not, he or she must pay the town the cost of the training.

"It's just something that will provide us with a little bit of protection in the event something like this happens," Leahy said.

Leahy said he reviewed the procedure with the Patrolmen's Union and they supported the idea. He said town counsel also signed off on the plan, saying it was in the town's legal rights to request a commitment of this level.

Leahy also said it is a common practice in many communities throughout the state, and that, to his knowledge, Northborough has never had an officer go through training and then leave the force for another job relatively shortly thereafter.

"There's no way to recover the full financial cost of academy time," Leahy said, "but this is a good way to at least partially protect our investment."