(Michigan City, IN) - The Michigan City Police Department is nearly back to full strength.

Police Chief Marty Corley told the city council on Tuesday six new officers graduated Friday from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and have begun their shifts.

For now, Corley said they’re being paired up with veteran patrol officers as part of their field training but should be assigned to their own police vehicle before the end of the year.

Corley also revealed the hiring of another officer on Monday.

“He will start his training with our division of professional standards and then he’ll possibly go to the academy in January,” he said.

The recent hirings bring the number of officers at the department to 82, just two short of what’s provided for in the city budget, he said.

The rising number of officers is in response to an aggressive campaign that included a significant increase in pay and benefits at a time when some departments in the area followed suit because of officers leaving for much better compensation elsewhere in the region.