Is it any wonder that we cannot retain Officers in the City of Salisbury? You ever wonder why most don't stick around or want to be Salisbury Police Officers?? It's probably because their pay is the laughing stock of the Lower Shore. I took the time to do some research over the weekend calling most of the local agencies for their starting salary range and was just blown away at how overworked and underpaid our City Officers are.
Below are the numbers and I want you to take into consideration the calls for service our Officers have comparatively. Salisbury City Police have responded to over 50,000 calls for service the past 2 years. The UCR from 2010 is also shown below
These 2010 numbers are showing you just part one crime which are the most serious calls and as you can clearly see City Police Officers handled 2687 almost twice that of MSP and The Sheriff Office combined. Trust me those guys deserve a pay raise as well but this is about our City Police. Now onto the numbers, some are starting salaries and then upon graduation from academy.
Pocomoke City Police 40,019
Cambridge Police 34,000
Berlin 33,000
Delmar 30,000
Salisbury University 38,000
Maryland State Police 41,326
Wicomico County Sheriff 39,267
Princess Anne 36,618
Crisfield 33,000
Ocean City 40,304
Worcester County Sheriff 37,496
Somerset County Sheriff 34,600 after academy graduation
and where do our Salisbury City Officers Start?36,473 according to Website although many Officers are making less than that amount. Think about that a minute. Pocomoke, Princess Anne, Salisbury University and Ocean City all make more money then SPD
Also most of these agencies have liberal take home car policies or residency requirements for their cars. How can we expect our Officers who run the most calls and deal with the most serious of crimes and get paid peanuts to do so have any long term career in the SPD? I propose an immediate increase to 40,000 upon completion of the Academy as a way to keep our Officers in the SPD and allow Officers to Take Their Cars Home if they live within a certain distance from the City Center.
Salisbury has got to take better care of the Officers that keep us safe and paying them less than the majority of other Municipalities and expecting them to do so much more work is why we have few career SPD officers in our ranks.
66 comments:
With the job market the way it is there is nothing wrong with the salaries. Some people would complain even if the money was double. Maybe the officers need dinners delivered out to where their sitting in their new air conditioned police cars. There is an old saying the more people have the more they want. Just the other i heard the city police want take home cars too. There's no end to the wants, but there is an end to the paying.
The answer to every problem in salisbury is not just throw more money at it.
Just keep raping the tax payer, Then you will be asking why is everybody moving away this is such a fine area. I know I'm looking for another area.
9:22 let me know when your moving so I can throw a party. If you don't think the officers that keep you safe deserve to be paid what they deserve than please move away..try detroit
Ditto to what Jonathan said.
I say give them.cars If they live 10 miles from pd. at first cause a car would put money in there pocket. Work on there promotuons structure as well which I know is a big issue. there advanements come every five years. thats bullshit.
The officers should be happy just to have a job. Look at other bigger cities around the country and see what is happening. Some have cut the police and fire fighters salaries to minimum wage. When cities go broke, they just cannot afford to pay these high wages with benefits. If the city wants to pay higher wages they should cut the numbers of officers. Government simply cannot continue to spend money that it does not have.
they better find it
I think you need to understand why the salaries are low. Several years ago under Chief Webster the agency decided to obtain an excellent retirement package instead of boosting starting salaries. Wicomco Sheriff decided to obtain parity with the state police to attract and retain officers but have a crappy retirement. Apparently you can't have it both ways unless you are in the State Police.
I notice one thing, Salisbury saleries might be a little low compared the others, "But" How many others have a million dollar fire boat. Tell me that. And a maltimillion dollar sewer system that don't work to name a few!
You can't just say "oh how unfair, look at all these other PD's in the area that pay so much more."
You can not say that until you know the whole picture-like retirement package, health benefits.
10:03 that may be true but they should still get a wage that is comparable with the work they perform regardless of benefits
Want to see where all the money went? Look at the imbalance of pay between officers compaired to supervisors. The officers do all the work supervisors get the raise.
And i agree all city and county employees should get free take home cars. They earned it.
If the city is going to find more money, that only means raising taxes. I don't think anyone thinks that that is a good idea. Frankly, I'm more afraid of higher taxes and more government regulation than I am criminals. Fact is that most people will never be a victim of crime and that is not because we have so many police on the streets. Maryland could give us the right to carry and get rid of half of the police and we would all be safer.
Obviously you work for government 10:07. How do government workers earn a take home car any more than the average worker? Fact is that most government are lazy and it's hard to get them to even do the job that they are paid to do.
10:13 are you on drugs? really you are more afraid of a higher tax than a murderer on the streets?please think before you type
I happen to be dating a Salisbury Policeman and I feel he is under paid.... he works his butt off puts in lots of over time which he doesn't get paid for.. he gets PTO. However he never takes time off work so he works for the city for free a lot! !!! His car is old and doesn't work have the time ... they are always Shorthanded.... very rarely does he even get to take his dinner break.. how many of you would work in these conditions at these low pay rates? Not many ......
I'm not on drugs, simply stating facts. Most people will never be a victim of crime. If you live in certain areas you may be more vulnerable but overall being murdered is not a worry at all for me and should not be for others.
Another fact is that several cities have recently filed for bankruptcy just because of what this post is all about. Extreme pay and benefits for it's employees.
how about a 1 percent public safety tax to pay for this stuff thats what bigger cities do and would only be cents on the dollar increase so people wouldnt even notice the increase. minus the penny pinching assholes that wine about everthing else.
Just raise taxes. The money is there. Maybe we can institute a Camden Avenue tax.
To: July 16, 2012 10:16 AM
How do government workers earn a take home car any more than the average worker?
That's eazy. They work at poverty wages and over worked. It would be nice for all of them to have their saleries increased 50% THe school employees saleries should be increased and receive higher retirements pay also. It's an shameful for the kids to have to go to old school buildings. Just build new ones.
12:16, you are just kidding or you are completely out of touch with reality. Where do you think the money would come from. Haven't you been paying attention to the rest of the country. States, cities, etc are going broke and filing for bankruptcy and you want us to spend even more money. Please try to educate yourself and face reality, government must cut spending and live within it's means.
Police or not. If any person that got worked like the SPD officers do you would bitch. thats why we cant keep them they can go make more else where and do a third of the work. Any imteliegent person would do the same and leave.
find the money or prepare for more crime cry babies. or the city police will contiue to be a stepping stone.
July 16, 2012 12:58 PM
"JT said it best"
"they better find it
July 16, 2012 9:43 AM"
It will not be long before the departments that are paying more will be in the same predicament as the city. Other departments will also be forced to cut salaries along with benifits. It's very simple, all government must be forced to cut back, raising taxes is not an option. I agree with the person that said "give us the right to carry and cut the police force and we will all be safer".
If they are going to find it 1:15, they better cut some fat somewhere else. It's time for city employees to sacrafice just like average folks have had to do for the last 3 Obama years.
Salisbury Employees Have Suffered for a long long time. There is no fat. It's time for the rich and the property owners to bellie up to the bar and pay up.
People better wake up and realize that in order to fund these agencies to the point that they should be they may have to pay extra for something whether it's a tax or whatever you want to call it. The first thing out of peoples mouths is ooo cut back then...cut what back??? these men and woman haven't gotten a decent wage, decent vehicles in forever.
Some of us cannot pay more taxes. I worked 50 years and now living on social security and barely making it. Where am I suppose to get the money to pay more taxes??
If money is not found Spd will continue to b a stepping stone. The community will never get in touch and know their officers bc there are always new faces. Why would someone not leave SPD to get paid more, work less, and a take home vehicle.
Thats why morale is so bad as some people claim.A cop in a podunk town makes more money than a cop in dangerous Salisbury.
Oh....is that a fact? Where did you learn such a statistic? I say you are full of shit and don't know what you are talking about.
If you worked for 50 years, it is your own fault that you are only living on Social Security. I have worked for 25 years (so far...am still working) don't make much at all, but have been smart enough to save for retirement instead of betting on Social Security. The reason- all the old people are going to use it up before I get there and most have drawn WAY more than they ever put in.
Work for 25 years! Well now, you should have plenty of money to share with the people of salisbury
The problem is (and cities, counties are going bankrupt which proves it) that the government Ponzi scheme has caught up.
It is common now for a government to be paying out more to retirees in benefits and pensions than actual employees on the current payroll.
It was fine when people weren't living so long but now a days an overwhelming percentage of former gov't employees have collected retirement benefits longer than they worked.
Unless we up the retirement age or kill off those living too long every government is going to go broke and it's not going to be long esp with property assessments the way they are and other economic factors, such as people cutting back on spending.
Very interesting!
When interviewed for the police job, Not one applicant Has ever stated to the hiring board that they disliked the pay structure. Nor has anybody stated they wanted the job eventhow they will be over worked. But now when their bellies are full and have job security, Health insurance, and one hell of good retirement package Now it's become to hard to work there. You know maybe just close the whole dept down. Let sheriff dept run it with new personal. Un gratefull bunch, Send them off to find better jobs.
You obviously didn't do your homework on the county pension or the city pension. Unlike other places, these employees pay lots into the retirement. They earn their pensions. The county pension is over 90% funded......that is a fact. What you are talking about sounds like social security. Are you suggesting that the government reduce the social security benefit starting NOW so that younger folks will have some too? Probably not since you are probably one of the ones drawing that will collect more than you paid in. What's good for the goose is good for the gander......right?
You gotta deal with Gen-Pop shit every fkn day. That must suck. You aint gonna save the world this way, just try to keep it safer maybe. Shit is shit, always has been.
That bike path is way more important than something like this huh??? Most them cops younger than me, bet the Cheif is to. They most likely got growing familys to support and they move on as soon as they can. I like the way the Delaware state boys will shoot you with a shot gun quick. The cops have to deal with regular people one after another and if they let there gaurd down one time it is that mtfkr lifetime dude dont give a shit about you himself or the world you could be killed, because this mthfkr aint half human. They are out there and the cops have to deal with them all the time. They are animals and there are to many of them. Gen-Pop. Consumers at the very worst. All they do is take from the world, they never make it better. How much would I want to make to deaal with this shit everyday? You aint got enough money. I watch them and rob the the dope pushers, they cant call the cops, fk em. Just kidding.
They all knew the pay when they started, but they did expect at least a small cost of living increase each year, they didn't expect to make the same pay year after year, no cost of living increase, increased medical and retirement costs, and furloughs on top of that. JT, they have raised the starting pay several times and those that have stuck around watched as new officers got a raise and they got shafted, which led to the serious compression issues, there is no reward for sticking around and carrying the weight of the rookies year after year. They need complete pay restructuring so someone with less time who is later promoted doesn't make more than someone with more time in the same position. They are running all of their experienced officers out of there and the city will be left with a seasonal police force.
Say what you want but we have to many cops on the payroll now. Get rid of some and give the others a little raise. Don't forget that cops can retire after 20 years with full pension. I'd say that a lower pay is OK considering the retirement plan.
Nope it's not SS I'm talking about 8:27. Do your homework. Pension reform has become an issue.
FYI-I've not paid any SS nor will I collect any, nor will I ever need it and that's a fact. Spouse is eligible for both SS and Medicare but doesn't take either.
I'm not going to explain why it's refused as understanding large and complex financial matters isn't your thing.
If the city hadn't, and continue to, piss money away in the fire department there would be more than enough resources to increase the pay and benefits of the police department.
10:14--- U SAY TO MANY COPS... DID U NOT GET THE PART OF OVER WORKED AS WELL.. SO LETS LOWER THE NUMBER OF OFFICERS ON THE ROAD.. SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA :-/
NO WAY!...I just read crime was way down in Salisbury Due to the excellent job of the new police Chief.
Why are all these calls comming in and over working the Officers?
Something smells fishy!
2:06 PM
You should've planned better.
Just because someone says the cops are over worked doesn't mean that it is true. If they have time to go after people talking on cell phones, not wearing seat belts, etc, than I would say they are not over worked. Let them focus on real crime and forget the irrellevent stuff. They are diffinately not overworked. If they work overtime, they get compensated for it just like many other employees in the private sector.
Cops make much more than our military and the soldiers are actually overworked and their lives are truly in danger. In reality, being a cop is not that dangerous. Farmers and constructions workers have more fatalities and put in more hours than do cops. I'm sick of the people that think the cops deserve to be paid some outragous salary with super benifits. They are simply not worth it, and could be replaced very easily.
You can't compare local police with state police. A state police officer has to agree to be reassigned to anywhere in MD at any time. JT how do other salaries compare? Is it just the police or do other departments make less as well? I know the police department was the last city department to get raises. How do we pay the people that clean our streets? Deal with our poop? Provide our water?
they dont get paid well either^^ i heard there hasnt been a raise in salisbury for 6 yrs, however cost of living, insurance and retirement all have went up. log onto SPD's website and look up Calls for service and tell me those men and women arent over worked. or before u talk why dont u do a ride along with them.. they are non stop then do a ride along with another agency.. i bet u'll see a big difference as far as how busy they are. SPD should be the premiere agency on the shore.. I think they do a good job trying to keep these streets safe.. they can't be everywhere but they arrest and solve a good amount of crimes. Strong work SPD try n keep your chins up. keep working hard maybe these ppl will oneday realize how hard you work to make this city a little safer.
So Salisbury doesn't pay anyone well?
How about if we just say thank you for continuing to protect and serve despite whatever the pay may be? personally, I am thankful to have the protection of the police 24/7 no matter what unit they come from (city, county, or state). These people work long hours, weekends, holidays, sometimes mandatory overtime, night shift, and any other time that is given to them. I am appreciative of all they do....whether I will be a victim of crime or not!!!!!!!
No one flinches when athletes and movie stars make kazillions, but are ready to go to war when policemen and teachers want a small raise. Mankind is in real trouble!
I heard Pocomoke City just hired two from Salisbury Police Dept. good news for Pocomoke.
Athletes are not paid with tax payer dollars 11:27. If I don't want my money going toward their salary I can simply not go to the games. I have no choice when it comes to paying taxes so I am concerned how much government employees make. Frankly, they all make to much and waste is rampant in all branches of government.
JT- I admire your Salisbury PD do or die attitude, but the impartial opinion is that the pay is fair. They are town cops and they get paid better than most- but not all- town cops. They are NOT the MSP. People take jobs as town cops for 2 reasons- they are not qualified to be MSP at this time and are looking to imbellish their skills and resume, or they know they will never be MSP caliber and settle for the best cop job they can get. You will never stop the upward mobility of the best cops from local juristictions to state cops. It is just how it is.
Where does everybody get "Maryland State Police are superior to City and County Police/Sheriff's Departments". I have worked with all and can tell you some of the sharpest Police Officers I have worked with are City/Sheriff's Deputies. And some of the not so sharpest have been Troopers. I am not digging on the State Police, but they are by no means the Gods of Law Enforcement (Even though some say they are, simply becuase they go through a physically tougher academy, which they do). A Salisbury City Police Officer can learn more in two years what takes a Trooper 10+years to learn. I will say it Troopers are presured to crank out tickets, notice since the state budget become even worse that MSP is again allowing Troopers to conduct "hand stops", you might notice them jumping out in front of you on Route 50 or Route 13. A Trooper conducting "hand stops" can crank out twice as many tickets and a Trooper chasing down vehicles in theor patrol vehicles, this means more revenue for the state from these tickets. MSP for a time suspended the "hand stops" becuase a Police Officer on the western shore jumped out in front of a vehicle to stop it and that Police Officer was tragically run over by a vehicle and killed. Your local police and Sheriff's Departments handle 70% or more of the actual criminal offenses in your neighborhood and thats a fact (just look at the above post UCR report). Atleast that has been the way in all the areas of the lower shore where I have worked. Again I am not picking on the State Police, I wish them all the best. It just burns my backside when I hear people down playing the talent of the local police in this area.
There are 3 types of people who join local pd's. Those who don't wanna be transferred out of the area, those who are trying to use it as a stepping stone to something better, and those who would never make the standards of the msp.
12:43-I have'nt seen any SPD officers who don't meet or exceed the standards of the MSP.
I think there needs to be a 100% tax on video games to go to police salaries.
2:36 can u even name any local pd officers. Because if you could you would know alot of them not only met the "standards" of msp but blow troopers out of the water. So before you open ur mouth please educate your self.
Personally, you couldn't pay me enough to do that job BUT life long pensions are not added into your figure. Additionally, I'd rather have fewer well paid cops than more. Cops in the most part, do not prevent crimes. At some point they just become a tax collecting patrol. Maybe if they right sized the force they could get the right people in the right positions paying them the right amount. If, i was mayor, that's what i would do. LOL
11:03 what you describe in working conditions (long hours, shift work, etc...) also applies to the people that work on water and sewer pipe breaks, which normally happen in the winter. Also the people that work at the sewer and water plants. Do these people not deserve our respect and thanks? They also work every holiday. Can you flush on Christmas? Can you turn the faucet on? There are men and women that work hard often for little money to insure you can do that. I say thank you to them as well!
10:33-Maybe I did'nt articulate my intended comment,but I meant the same as yourself.Please read 2:36 again.
Couldn't agree with you more right coast. More is not always better. Governments solution to all problems is just spend more money. We see how that works with Obama and O'Malley.
The 3 places that make a lot (in relative terms to the scale you provide) more than Salisbury (over 40k) are the Maryland State Police, Ocean City and Pocomoke. The MSP officers can be assigned to work any place in the state at any time and because of this and the higher standards they definitely deserve to make more.
With regard to OC? It's beach money. Look up and down the coast of DE as well. Beach communities have higher priced homes and rake in more tax money. They can afford to pay better than Salisbury. Also, OC swells to over 300,000 people on July 4th and is well over 100,000 often during the summer, so for a portion of the year OC is the larger municipality in terms of how many people are there at a given time. Does that mean they deserve more? I don't know, but it has to be factored in.
I also note JT that your graphic does not list the crimes in OC, so how can we possibly compare the two?
When it comes to Pocomoke? I have no idea, but to play devil's advocate, is this an example of Salisbury not enough or them paying too much?
If Salisbury's police department has a significant problem with resignations, it's certainly something they have to explore. But it first must be stated that all small agencies like the Salisbury Police Department have a problem with attrition. The root problem is smaller agencies provide fewer promotional opportunities and lateral movement into specialty units. Money isn't always the reason why police officers leave a smaller agency to go to a larger one.
As someone suggested, in looking solely at numbers, the entire benefits package must be examined, not just the starting salary. Small agencies don't have an issue recruiting police officers, they have a problem retaining them. Many smaller agencies structure their salaries so that salaries bump up significantly at key years of service to encourage experienced officers to stay. As I stated, many officers from smaller agencies leave because they look at their advancement opportunities and see slim pickings. There's really not much smaller agencies can do do address those issues. Officers leaving Salisbury P.D. aren't leaving to go work for Princess Anne and Pocomoke City, they head for the larger agencies.
Many years ago, I worked at SPD. I graduated ranked 1st in my class, and built a reputation as a solid performer. I learned that due to my lack of a college degree (I served 5 years in the USMC right out of High School)I was considered ineligible for promotion - even though I had outperformed (academically and statistically) most of my peers. Coupled with a poor pension and high insurance premiums for dependents it was enough to send me on my way.
I left (for a pay cut initially) and a promise of better opportunities. I haven't looked back since. I have been very competitive for promotion(s) and am making more than I ever imagined that I would. Have I been shafted? Yes. I am 6 steps behind ($12K/yr.) and have endured salary reductions. I have logged more miles for promotional opportunities than most of you will drive in your lifetime. Things could always be better, but they could also be much worse!
When I left SPD (as the 16th of 18 to do so in one 12 month period - 16 years ago), I warned the Chief and the Mayor and City Council that if they didn't fix their crap, they would have two types of police left - those that had too much time invested to leave (read: bitter employees)and those that couldn't be competitive enough to better their situation (read: incompetent employees). Have I been right? What do you think?
As far as who is better, I have worked with great cops and deputies and have been utterly disappointed by many troopers. All places have slugs and superstars. The one difference between me and many of my friends is that I was willing to endure a 6month live-in academy to get the prize at the end of the rainbow. Those who aren't willing to aren't bad because of it; they just simply don't want it bad enough to do whatever it takes.
People who don't value their police officers won't ever be convinced by any argument I can make - but for those who think its an easy profession, with exhorbitant slaries and benefits, I ask you, "Why haven't you applied yet?" The answer is likely that you lack the moral or physical courage, couldn't pass the polygraph or background check, or can't spell "cat" if spotted the "c" and the "t"!
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