Bourbon Police Chief Bill Martin asked the Bourbon Town Council members last week what to do with officers who cannot take vacations through the rest of the year due to a shortage in staff.
Martin explained that his department is short two officers and he is not able to fill shifts. If the available police officers go on vacation, there would be a huge scheduling issue.
The council had the option to carry the officers’ unused vacation time into the new year, but that would add on to the vacation time already given to them which will create another issue. Two officers need to leave to go to the Police Academy for a few months next year which will not allow the officers any extra vacation time as they will need to fill shifts.
Martin said one officer asked to be paid for existing vacation time. He commented that he has 13 days of vacation time along with another officer. The third officer has 18 days of unused vacation time.
The Bourbon Town Council members unanimously voted to pay the officers for the vacation time.
Additionally, the council approved Martin’s recommendation to extend a conditional offer to hire Alex Trudy as an officer.
