WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENTS
READ INTO THE RECORD
From: [email protected]
To: City Clerk
Subject: Comment for police salary item
Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2022 7:40:30 PM
CAUTION: External Sender
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Good evening,
If rank and file police officers need more incentive to defend the city than they receive today, perhaps city hall should spread the wealth more equitably. We know this from the city’s posted salary data from year 2020.
Rank and file officers that year earned a median $145,000 in base salary and overtime. That’s exclusive of other pay and benefits. And the median value of ‘other pay’ per rank-and-file office was $20,000. The median value of employee benefits was $50,000 annually per officer. All told that’s pretty good compensation in an arguably over-policed city.
In the upper ranks the rewards are much greater. Of the best paid city employees in 2020, 44 of the top 50 were first responders and most of them were top brass. But not all of them: seven of the top 50 citywide were police sergeants — sergeants — who earned an average of $282,000 in 2020. That too is exclusive of other pay and benefits.
Perhaps instead of bumping-up base pay by 14% over the three years, our city should retire some of the department brass and spread that wealth among the rank-and-file if councilmembers feel that their compensation is insufficient.
Thank you.