It’s been eight years since New Orleans police officers received a pay raise and in the meantime, police associations say, their costs of living and insurance rates have increased, driving down their take-home pay. Meanwhile, the force has shrunk by 30 percent since May 2010, to 1,093 cops, as officers are leaving the department at a rate of about one every three days.
What are your thoughts? Are you worried about NOPD’s manpower shortage? Do you think a raise would help recruit and retain cops? How big a raise do you think is appropriate?
In an effort to boost recruitment and retention, the New Orleans City Council is considering several proposals for officer raises. A Civil Service study found the NOPD’s salaries lagged well behind the average of other southeastern U.S. cities. For example, a senior NOPD patrol officer makes $42,450, compared to a regional minimum of $53,765.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu has requested a 5-percent raise for cops in 2015. His chief administrative officer, Andy Kopplin, on Monday told the Civil Service Commission, which must approve pay rates, that amount is the best the administration can do “in the current fiscal climate,” as the city is saddled with paying for two multimillion-dollar federal court-ordered overhauls of the jail and the NOPD.
The Civil Service department recommended the commission approve 20-percent raises, to be distributed over three years, with 10 percent in 2015, then 5 percent in 2016 and another 5 percent in 2017. That would bring the NOPD in line with other cities in the southeastern U.S. region, the department said.
Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux has criticized the study as misleading, saying it doesn’t consider the city’s retirement payments, which make up one-third of police salaries, according to a story on The Lens.
Police unions, meanwhile, urged the commission Monday to go above the city’s proposal, and ideally beyond the Civil Service department’s recommendations. One representative proposed a 30-percent raise over three years. The unions argue officers used to have more opportunities to supplement their meager income through off-duty details, before the city took over management last spring and many businesses switched their security services from NOPD to private patrol or other local agencies.
“The 5 percent increase that’s been offered by the city is simply a slap in the face to these officers,” said Eric Hessler, of the Police Association of New Orleans. “We know that’s going to be eaten by a 6-percent increase in their health benefits. We’re going to be right back where we started. Problems with recruitment, retention and morale are going to get worse.”
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/10/nopd_salaries_how_much_should.html