Part-time police officers in Lansford may see a bump in hourly pay following a suggestion by one borough official.

During Lansford Borough Council’s meeting on Wednesday, council President Jared Soto made a recommendation to raise the pay raise for part-time police officers to be more competitive with other boroughs. Lansford police department is currently understaffed, and council needs to make a decision if it’s better to hire more part-time police officers or one full-time officer.

“If we don’t want to hire a full-time officer, that’s fine, but we should be more competitive,” Soto said.

If matters aren’t taken, full-time officers will have to be paid time and a half to cover shifts. No new hires will eventually lead to more costly expenses for the borough.

The recommendation comes after police Chief Jack Soberick took a leave of absence due to a work-related injury.

Officer Shawn Nunemacher will be acting officer in charge and performing all chief related tasks.

Because of the circumstances, all part-time officers will be rescheduled to 40 hours a week and entitled to overtime benefits, but part-time officers cannot claim full-time officer status.

In other police matters, part-time police officer Kyle Sabulsky sent his letter of resignation to Soberick on June 12 after council rejected the motion to promote him to a full-time officer during the June meeting.

Sabulsky’s last day with the department was on June 26.