A small police department in Minnesota’s north woods offers free canoes to help recruit new officers

By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press

The police department in the small north woods Minnesota town of Ely faces the same challenges of recruiting and keeping officers as countless other law enforcement agencies across the country. So it’s offering a unique incentive: Ely will give free Kevlar canoes, worth $3,800, to the next officers it hires — and to current employees. The lightweight craft are perfect for paddling off into the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and exploring its more than 1,000 lakes. The department has one opening now with another soon. Police Chief Chad Houde says he’d already had two calls expressing interest as of Thursday morning.