Fighting over police pay
Baltimore police are complaining about cuts to their pay and to their pension, and are loudly protesting City Hall. Baltimore leaders are cheering that they closed a $121 million budget deficit without laying cops off.
They point to New Jersey, where cops by the hundreds have lost their jobs to dire economic times, and police unions there say crime is soaring as a result. Today's Crime Scenes gets into the debate in more detail, and notes the release of the Maryland State Police annual law enforcement salary survey.
In the 1990, Baltimore police officers were among the lowest paid cops in the state, earning starting salaries of about $28,000. An academy graduate in the city now gets $42,290 a year, still in a low tier. They’re ahead of state troopers and cops in Anne Arundel and Charles counties but below police in Baltimore, Howard and Harford counties.
Above, the president of the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police union, Robert F. Cherry, leads a protest outside City Hall. For more details:
But the salary discrepancy at career’s start is minimal, a little more than $4,000 lower than in Baltimore County, which has the highest starting salary in the Baltimore area. City officers, however, lose considerable ground as their career grows, according to the Maryland State Police 2010 Salary and Benefits Survey report.
Let’s say you work in the city and you’re promoted to lieutenant, the highest civil service rank. The minimum starting salary is $68,630, which is more than the $66,135 you’d make in Baltimore County. But in the city, it would take you 25 years to earn $90,365. In county, it would take you seven years to earn $134,821.
It is certainly true that that it’s harder to make lieutenant in Baltimore County and in Baltimore City, which is roughly double the size and has many more openings and opportunities. But look at someone who spends a career with rank of officer. The city cop tops out at $68,523 after putting in 25 years at that rank, while it would take a county officer nine years to earn $96,143.
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Crime elsewhere, Top brass
Comments
Not sure where the county officer makes "96k after 9 years" came from.
I appreciate the coverage of the issue at hand, but there needs to be some serious fact-checking and correction, at least on the count of Baltimore County Police pay. Given the current economic stress, I certainly won't complain, but we don't make close to the figures quoted....
Posted by: conner | February 27, 2011 10:09 AM
And then there is the subject that no one wants to talk about. Work Load. Take a job with Baltimore County, and you will have a large amount of down time. That is time with nothing to do but patrol which means you are trying to prevent crime by being omnipresent. You also have time to communicate with the community, building relationships with those you serve.
In Baltimore City, you will answer at least fifteen to twenty calls for service a shift. You spend all of your time being reactionary to what has already occurred. there is absolutely no time for prevention and building relationships. No relationships and you will get no information.
This causes an adrenaline rush up and down all day long. Is it any wonder these guys are less than courteous?
Low pay hinders the ability to hire good qualified applicants. No wonder there is corruption. Garbage in, garbage out.
Posted by: Nick | February 27, 2011 10:54 AM
You can not attract the best canidates unless you are competitive with the other agencies regarding pay and other benefits. The problem is that the city leaders have champagne taste on a beer budget. That doesn't work. Stop loweing the standards to be politically correct!!
Posted by: Bill | February 27, 2011 2:55 PM
SINCE THEY MAKE SO MUCH MONEY ON THERE PART-TIME JOBS, WHY SHOULD THEY WORRY ABOUT A FULL-TIME PAY. THEY SHOULD WORK FOR FREE, WITH ALL THE KICK BACKS THEY SHOULD DONATE THEY PAYCHECKS TO THE PEOPLE THEY SCAMMED. WE ALL KNOW THAT THIS IS THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG. KICK BACKS FROM DRUG ORGANIZATIONS, PROSTITUTION, ILLEGAL GUNS THAT ARE RECYCLED BACK TO THE STREETS. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE COMMISSIONER KNEW ALL ABOUT IT. REMEMBER HE CAME THROUGH THE RANKS, SO HE SAW THE CORRUPTION 1ST HAND AND MAY HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN SOME OF IT HIMSELF. THIS IS THE FOX WATCHING THE HEN HOUSE. THE A CROOK AND SO IS THE CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT. SHAME
Posted by: UNCLEOLLIE | February 28, 2011 11:09 AM