The Jefferson City Council recently approved the newest hire of the city’s police department.

Jonathan Young is originally from St. Charles and graduated from Interstate-35 High School in 2014. He attended Iowa Central Community College as well as Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny in the field of criminal justice, but didn’t complete his associates degree. Young comes from a rich law enforcement background. His brother is a police officer with the Ankeny Police Department and his dad is the Akron Police Chief.

Young talks about why he chose Jefferson to start his law enforcement career.

“Well I grew up in a small community, so I really enjoy the small community feel that Jefferson had to offer, as well as having amenities in town. It made a mixture of both small town living as well as a large enough community to have those amenities.”

Young will be sent to the 16-week academy to be a fully certified police officer this spring. He started this past Thursday at an annual salary of $41,516.