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CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) Hiring new police officers to replace those who have retired or accepted jobs with better pay has created a headache for Valley City Police Chief Fred Thompson.

The city commission approved a motion to allow Thompson to hire two people for a program that pays for their training. He added that if the two don’t work out they’ll have to return their training salary back to the city.

Valley City resident Lloyd Nelson took issue with the idea but Thompson says it’s increasingly difficult to hire new officers who get paid more somewhere else right out of the academy.

Thompson says one prospective officer is from Valley City another is from Jamestown. Under a recently approved pay increase by the commission the starting salary for a Valley City police officer will be $40,069.