The Butler Bureau of Police is down one officer, with another expected to retire soon, so the city is taking actions to find staff members to fill the roles efficiently.

Butler City Council voted Thursday evening, June 20, to allow police chief Robert O’Neill to explore options for new police hires through a memorandum of understanding. According to Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy, O’Neill submitted this request to the city council.

With the expected staff shortfall of two people, Dandoy said, the chief will look for ways to pursue candidates for the jobs under certain terms. Council would then vote on the prospective hires and the terms of their hiring once the chief finds the desirable employees.

The city gave the chief the green light to seek out up to two new employees with Thursday’s vote, and Dandoy said it could take a few weeks for the chief to find the candidates. Council then will have to vote on each candidate’s employment separately.

“Right now it is very hard for all municipal police and fire departments to find people,” Dandoy said. “This is basically approving chief O’Neill to go out and do a memorandum to explore it and bring it back to us, then we’ll approve it.”