Keokuk, IA – The cost of insurance could actually help the Keokuk Police Department add an officer. Police Chief Tom Crew projected a 20% jump in the cost of his department's health insurance premiums for the fiscal year that begins in July. The city believes the hike will only be about 3%. The city council says Crew should rework his numbers, using the new insurance estimates, to see if he can add several new officers to the force. Crew has asked the council for permission to hire 3 new full-time officers and to promote a clerical workers to full-time. The council says Crew can add the new officers, if he can make the numbers work and stay under budget. Aldermen are proposing a 4% across-the-board hike for each department, compared to their current budgets. The council does not appear to be ready to boost the police department's budget if it can only fill the 2 current vacancies.
Keokuk Debates Increasing Police Force
