WRAL has a story that talks about the high turnover of Raleigh police officers and mentions the fact that there are 58 vacancies on the police force.
So why then, is Raleigh spending $1 million to spruce up a restaurant downtown while police officers quit over low pay? Apparently, the Mayor of Raleigh places a higher priority on having a fancy place to eat in his beloved downtown than ensuring the safety of his city’s residents.
How many police officers could have been hired for $1 million? Or retained from resigning by a new pay structure?
Maybe if the Mayor got out of his Ivory Tower, he’d notice that there has been 3 homicides in Raleigh already this year. Hmm… wonder if filling those 58 police vacancies might do something about the crime rate.
Rome may be burning, but Meeker will sit idly by and fiddle at his lovely new amphitheater next to his lovely new convention center, down the newly reopened Fayetteville Street from his lovely new white table cloth fancy restaurant.
Priorities matter. It’s time to hold Raleigh’s leaders accountable for theirs.
Since you mentioned Raleigh PD’s issues, please let me go off on a little tangent related to this issue.
The police world is funny – there is no lateral entry, for the most part.
Especially with larger agencies, such as RPD, the only common lateral transfer is at the chief level. For instance, I have over 10 years of police experience, a bunch of training and certifications, and I am a certified instructor.
But if I wanted to go to work for RPD, I would still have to go through remedial academy training, though at a slightly reduced level from where a raw recruit would have to do. Let’s be honest: Who in the heck wants to go from a responsible position with another agency to being treated like a recruit again? I did it once for Durham, and did not like it a bit! (Of course, I am fat and slow, and never lead the pack on any of the runs…)
If police agencies want to fix their ongoing staffing problems, here is what they ought to do:
– Raise starting pay to recruit people who are otherwise employable, and not just the lowest common denominator. Raise it high enough to be able to employ people with some responsible life experience, who generally make better officers that the 21 year olds who still live in their dad’s basement.
– Allow exceptionally good officers to laterally transfer from other agencies at levels other than Chief and Patrolman.
– Institute FAIR and ACCURATE merit pay. Reward the conscientious, active officer, and penalize the incompetent and lazy ones.
– Civilianize ALL administrative jobs and certain management jobs, such as IT and support services. If you are a sworn officer, you need to either be out arresting people or leading the troops to do it. Sworn officers cost more in pay and in the retirement system than civilians. Therefore, they should not be places in positions where they risk no more danger than a possible paper cut. Get them out on the street to earn their pay.
– Treat officers fairly and reasonably in the disciplinary and internal affairs process. Stand behind them when they do or try to do the right thing, even if it is politically unpopular. (RPD, remember (a href=”http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/393606.html”>Michelle Peele)
Will following this limited list lead to bliss amongst the police departments of the world? Probably not. But it would be a good start. After all, Meeker and Company will need SOMEBODY to protect that spiffy new convention center.