In an economy where having one job might not balance the check books, taking on another job might be a necessity. However, some small communities are finding benefits in their citizens working two jobs. According to the North Central Illinois News Tribune, police officers who work one full-time and one part-time job at different departments are benefiting all the police departments that they are serving. One in three officers in La Salle and Peru are dual-department officers while nine in 19 officers are dual-department in Spring Valley, according to the news source. "We do have all these officers who choose to work in these communities. The plus side for us is, they know all these other communities… They’re all intertwined. We have people traveling back and forth,"said La Salle police chief Rob Uranich, to the news source. While some of the benefits are monetary, such as not having to pay for training, since their full-time employer pays for it, many of the benefits have been a surprise to the police departments. Benefits such as always having good officers on staff, sharing knowledge and knowing the department has "quality employees". "They want the opportunity to go out and make extra income and support their families," said Peru police chief Doug Bernabei to the news source. "By allowing officers to do that, hopefully we have happier officers and it builds morale."  |