Missouri City leaders are considering raising the signing bonus for new police officers from $10,000 to $15,000. The city council ordinance is scheduled for a vote Monday evening. It acknowledges that the police department has 10 or more vacancies in the officer rank. City officials said the department does not have enough officers.
Other Texas departments have also used signing incentives. The Pearland Police Department offers a $15,000 signing incentive and has three open positions, which it plans to fill soon. Galveston's police chief, Doug Balli, said a $6,000 signing bonus helped the department fill vacancies after it had 32 open spots out of 168 positions.
The Sugar Land Police Department said it has two vacancies and is actively recruiting. League City officials said they have no new incentives planned but that their pay is competitive with agencies of similar size in the region. The Missouri City council is set to meet at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 2.