The chief of police, with the approval of the board, shall appoint such number of civilian employees as he deems necessary from time to time for the operation of the police department. Compensation for civilian employees of the police department shall not exceed the compensation paid to police officers of the department who perform like or similar work to that of such civilian employees, but the chief of police, with the approval of the board, may establish lower compensation for civilian employees than that received by police officers.
§ 84.520, RSMo