Salary & Benefits

Competitive Salary

You will find the salary and benefits of the Lafayette Police Department very competitive compared to many other departments in the area. This year the salary for recruit officers is set at $56,165; 2nd year officers will receive $59,447. After 2 years of service, officers are designated as "first class" and will receive a salary of $66,009. These figures are for the calendar year 2020.

Benefits

In addition to base salary each officer may qualify for specialty pay of $500 in up to 3 designated specialty fields. Generous vacation and time off is another benefit. Each officer begins with 60 hours of personal time in addition to 2 weeks paid vacation after completing 1 year. Vacation time builds to a maximum of 6 weeks after 17 years of service.

Shifts

Patrol officers work 12 hour shifts with rotating days off. Patrol officers have every other Friday, Saturday and Sunday as regularly scheduled days off.

Uniforms & Equipment

Each new officer is issued uniforms and equipment at no cost to the officer. Following the 1st year of service officers receive a uniform upkeep/replacement allowance of $2,000 per year and are expected to maintain their equipment in top condition. 

Take Home Vehicles
First class officers that live within the City of Lafayette will be issued a take home vehicle.  In addition to officers living within the city limits, certain specialties, command personnel, and detectives are issued take home vehicles as an additional benefit.

Insurance, Flex-spending & Deferred Plans

Single or family plan health insurance is offered at a low cost. The City benefit package also includes vision and dental benefits and a $25,000 basic life insurance policy. Optional Medical and dependent care Flex-spending plans are available as well as an optional deferred compensation retirement account. The flexible spending accounts and deferred compensation plan can offer significant tax benefits to employees.

Pension & Disability Fund

Indiana state laws require that all officers be accepted into the Indiana Police Officers and Firefighters Pension and Disability Fund prior to being hired. Retirement benefits (pension) may be collected after an officer has completed 20 years of service and reached age 52. An officer may elect to retire at any time after reaching 20 years of service but the retirement rate is locked in at the time of retirement and collection of a pension may not begin until age 52 . The base retirement benefit is reached after 20 years of service and is equal to 50% of the salary of a first class officer. For each additional year of service beyond 20 the officer earns an additional 2% up to a maximum of 74% of a first class officer's pay.