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Police,
firefighter pay raises on table in contract talks Baton Rouge firefighters could get an additional pay raise this
summer if the Mayor-President’s Office and firefighters’ association agree to
one. Patrol
officers to get pay raise The city of
Savannah will increase starting police officer pay by more than $2,600 a year
as a way to competitively recruit for 45 empty positions. City Manager Michael Brown detailed the increase for Savannah
City Council on Thursday. The increase will cost the city about $560,000,
which will be paid by moving funds within the city's budget - not through a
tax increase as proposed by Alderman Tony Thomas. "This will enhance our ability to recruit," Brown
said. The issue of recruiting and vacancies in the Savannah-Chatham
Metropolitan Police Department has been percolating since last summer. Some
recent crimes and the resulting outcry sparked a debate about police pay. Two aldermen proposed separate plans to increase pay last month,
Thomas and Jeff Felser. Felser's
plan did not seek a tax increase but sought to cut funds from most city
departments. The raise brings starting pay for officers in Savannah to
$30,496. All current patrol officer salaries will be shifted up to reflect
the changes. However, some aldermen weren't pleased with the increase and
wondered if it could have been more. "My personal opinion is I wish you were recommending
something a little higher," said Mayor Otis Johnson. Felser echoed that
sentiment. But in the end, no one objected enough to direct Brown to add
more money. The raise will make Savannah more competitive, Brown said.
Moreover, he said, the raise makes new officers in Savannah the highest paid
in Georgia outside of the Atlanta area. Johnson wanted to know if pay was the only reason for the
"retention problem." "I want to take away the public perception that our
officers are underpaid," he said. "If they don't stay ... then
we've got to look at what are the other issues." Currently, there are 79 vacancies on the police force. There are
34 recruits in training in the police academy, including 10 who either failed
or had to leave the course for medical reasons in 2005. Those numbers were
provided by police spokesman Lt. Mike Wilkins. Brown said he was aware of the vacancies. "I consider that subordinate to the issue of how many
officers we are putting on the streets and how many vacancies we are
filling," Brown said. "... we are puttting
more officers on the street than ever." Discussion of the salaries came as Brown and Interim Chief
Willie Lovett reviewed the aggressive patrol and offender interdiction
program Lovett first announced Saturday. It is the foundation of the city's
anti-crime program. But the presentation didn't start off well as council members
pointed out discrepancies in numbers Lovett cited for arrests made in
January. "For two years I have been frustrated about these numbers.
We have got to get some numbers that are valid and we can back up," Johnson said. He wants to bring those figures to the public and
be confident about them, he said, and "I can't do that right now." Council asked that Lovett bring back clear numbers and compare
arrests to reported crimes at the next council meeting. It also wants updated
stats at the second meeting of every month. Johnson also pinned Brown and Lovett down on deadlines for
adding eight more video surveillance cameras and new patrol cars. Brown said it could be done in six months. Johnson took notes. "We are going to have deadlines and targets," Johnson
said. "We are getting beat down with this issue and I'm not going to
continue to suffer that." The vehicles were promised within four months. Allen: Police need raises From the Daily Dispatch, February 21,
2006 Henderson's police chief asked the City Council for
across-the-board raises for his department at a Public Safety Committee
meeting Tuesday afternoon. Chief Glen Allen wants a 7 percent salary hike for his sworn
law-enforcement officers and civilian employees. In a report submitted to the
City Council last month, Allen calculated that eliminating three vacant
positions would basically cover the $159,000 cost of the raises. The chief acknowledged the city's financial straits but lobbied
for the raises with data from the North Carolina League of Municipalities
showing that Henderson has the lowest minimum salary and actual average
salary for entry-level officers of all North Carolina cities in its
population category. Henderson's pay for higher-ranking officers also lags
behind that of other departments, the chief said. The low pay causes difficulties recruiting and retaining
officers, Allen said, which in turn makes it harder for the police to combat crime
effectively. It also makes it hard for him to hold down departmental costs. In his January report, he calculated that it costs the
department at least $16,000 each year to process applications, find suitable
candidates and equip and train a single new officer. Over the last two years, Henderson considered 92 police
employment applications. Most applicants dropped out of the hiring process;
16 did not pass background screening, a job interview or a training course;
12 declined conditional job offers to work with other law enforcement
agencies or with private companies; and only six were hired by Allen's
department. Of the 38 employees to leave the department since 2000,
including retirees, at least 12 took better-paying jobs with other
law-enforcement agencies or in the private sector. Allen estimated that
Henderson paid $1.1 million to train officers for other agencies over the
last six years. “The area chiefs love me,” Allen told the Public Safety
Committee Tuesday. “They say we train their people very well before they hire
'em.” Former Henderson officers have taken jobs with the Cary,
Warrenton, Wake Forest and Zebulon police departments, the military, the
federal prison in Butner, the U.S. Customs Service,
the U.S. Postal Service, the state Highway Patrol and the State Capitol
Police in Raleigh. Allen has sought raises for his department intermittently since
2002, which was the last time the city adjusted the range of pay for salary
grades for all Henderson employees. He said he would exempt himself from his
proposed 7 percent hike. All city workers are currently in line for raises next year. As
Councilwoman Lynn Harper pointed out Tuesday, employee raises were the
council's second priority after improving the fund balance. The council met
to discuss fiscal priorities at a Feb. 8 retreat. The chief said this increase would help, but he didn't feel it
would fully solve recruitment and retention problems. Allen proposed assigning new pay grades to police department
employees, but Mayor Clem Seifert argued that it would make more sense to
boost pay without changing salary categories. Some council members criticized Allen's report Tuesday for items
it didn't include: more information on the department's goals and objectives
and on the methods it planned to use to fight crime. The chief noted that
some of that is detailed in the department's annual budget request, which is
due to be submitted soon. His report from last month showed that local police pay is poor
not only when compared to cities of Henderson's size but also when judged
against smaller towns. Tables of pay data from smaller municipalities show that
Henderson's entry-level minimum salary ranks at the bottom and its actual
average is among the lowest. Ramseur, with 1,700 residents, has a minimum
starting salary of $23,600 - slightly higher than Henderson's $23,555.
Henderson's actual average entry-level officer pay is below the actual
average for towns with fewer than 2,500 residents, towns with 2,500 to 4,999
residents, and towns with 5,000 to 9,999 residents. Henderson's population is
roughly 16,500. The only law-enforcement agency in the five-county Kerr-Tar
region that offers a lower minimum salary for new officers is the Vance
sheriff's office, the report stated. Police officers, support staff to
receive 4 percent raise Police officers in Albany, including
the department’s support staff, will receive a 4 percent wage increase as part
of a three-year contract ratified by the police union and approved by the
City Council. Those in the bargaining unit include
sworn officers up to the rank of corporal, dispatchers, clerks, community
service officers, a crime analyst and property and evidence specialists. |
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