As part of a continuing retention and recruitment effort, police officers in Verona soon will be making more money than ever before.

Verona Council voted Tuesday, Aug. 13 to raise the pay rate by 15% for all of the department’s current and future police officers.

The borough is looking to hire two full-time officers to reach full staffing.

Newly hired full-time officers will start at $27 per hour. Starting pay for part-timers climbs to $25 per hour.

The new pay scale takes effect Sept. 1.

In addition, annual raises were increased to 5% each year.

“Now, a sergeant making $32 an hour will be making $35.28 by 2026,” said borough Manager Stefanie Woolford.

A statement from council members and Mayor David Ricupero said residents have made it clear that public safety investments should be the borough’s most pressing concern.

“We’re really hoping that this will help,” Woolford said. “We’re committed, and we want to be competitive. We want to build our police force, and we’re hoping this will help.”

The pay increase is one of the solutions to the department’s staffing shortage that was created after Chief Ron McLemore was assaulted during a domestic violence call in November, leaving Sgt. Jerry Frankos as the department’s officer in charge.

Another full-time officer returned to work in early 2024 after a nonwork-related injury. During the officer’s leave, the borough had only one full-time officer and three part-time officers on duty.

The borough has made one full-time hire in the past few months, and council recently voted unanimously to expand the benefits package offered to all full-time officers.

Verona officials are continuing to look for other ways to attract new hires.

“We have directed the borough manager to be aggressive and creative in proposing solutions for us to consider,” read a statement from the council and Ricupero. “To date, we have increased benefits and revised salaries. In the coming months, we will be considering other proposals to make Verona even more competitive.”

Woolford said that from 2019 through 2023, the borough has increased the police department’s budget by 9.5% and other expenditures have decreased by about 3%.

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