HARTFORD, Conn. — Facing high resignation rates and significant staffing shortages in the University of Connecticut police and fire departments, UConn will offer tuition waivers for public safety personnel and their dependents beginning next year, according to public safety officials at the university.

Lawmakers say the tuition waivers will provide more incentives for UConn public safety personnel to stay in the department and recruit new police officers.

“You may get an accomplished officer who spends time in another jurisdiction and they have kids that are UConn age when they may retire from a Hartford or Bridgeport police department and they might consider transferring to UConn to finish out their career because of that benefit,” said Rep. Patrick Boyd, a Mansfield Democrat and co-chair of the Public Safety and Security Committee.

The university anticipates between a 5 to 10% participation rate, according to information from the UConn Board of Trustees. The estimated cost for tuition waivers is between $144,000 to $288,000 per year, according to the Board.

UConn is also expected to establish a “tuition reimbursement fund of $25,000 per fiscal year,” Board documents state.

A new law going into effect next month, which addresses workforce development in the state, requires UConn police and fire to develop a recruitment and retention program, which also includes a tuition waiver for police and fire personnel. On Sept. 23, The UConn Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution implementing the tuition waivers.

Gene Labonte, associate vice president for university safety and chief of police at UConn, said the police department currently employs 78 officers, which is 10 short of the authorized number serving all seven campuses in the state.

He said many police say in exit interviews that they left UConn to go to other police departments that pay them a higher salary. In evaluating the current pay scale for police officers in the department compared to surrounding municipal police departments in the state, Labonte found that virtually every other department paid higher salaries than UConn.

He said he did not have specific figures on the pay differentiation between UConn and other municipalities.

“Every police department is struggling staffing wise and I’m sure there’s a variety of reasons why people are not getting into this line of work anymore,” he said. “But when everybody’s competing for the same personnel, people tend to gravitate toward whoever’s going to make them the best offer and pay them the most money.”

Rep. Greg Howard, a Stonington Republican, detective and ranking member of the Public Safety and Security Committee, said at UConn, police were using the position as a stepping stone to get to other departments.

“They’re getting hired there to get certified to make themselves more marketable to a bigger department,” he said.

But he said now there is a recruitment tool to keep them there.

With recruitment and retention a challenge across the state, the law also allows police and firefighters in the state to receive tuition waivers to attend the state university system under specific criteria, which is still being determined, according to lawmakers.

Boyd said recruitment and retention is difficult in police departments across the state because of negative attitudes toward police, reduction of benefit packages for officers in municipalities and the elimination of the pension system for officers.

Rep. Michael DiGiovancarlo, a Waterbury Democrat and vice chair of the Public Safety and Security Committee, said the national narrative toward policing has taken a hit over the last 10 years.

“It’s a job where you can be right 99 times out of 100 and the one time you’re wrong, it’s questioned,” he said.

Howard said previously thousands of people applied for hundreds of jobs in police departments. Today, that is no longer the case, he said.

In testimony to the Committee on Public Safety and Security, Labonte said that since 2020 UConn had hired 53 police officers.

“However, during that same period 67 officers have left the department, with 42 resigning to join other agencies,” he said in his testimony.

On average, Labonte said that resignations occur after just 3.7 years of service, which includes one year to academy and field training

“Based on current cost estimates for hiring, training and equipping officers, we have invested approximately $5.9 million in the 53 officers recruited since 2020,” he said in his testimony. “Of this total, $4.7 million represents investments lost due to the departure of the 42 officers who transitioned to other agencies.”

Boyd said that UConn is having a hard time keeping more experienced officers.

Labonte said high resignations and staffing shortages are mainly affecting UConn’s police department with the university’s fire department also reporting some vacancies.

He said because of the shortage of staff, police officers are working longer hours.

“Whether it’s either voluntary or involuntary overtime we are forced to make adjustments in the way we schedule things,” he said. “Sometimes we pull back on coverage where we would otherwise have coverage depending on the time of the year and the circumstances.”

Labonte said he is hopeful that the tuition waivers will keep officers at UConn.

“We’ve already started to get some interest from officers from other departments who are now looking at UConn because this word is spreading that this benefit is available,” he said.

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