Higher salaries reducing officer turnover, Cape police say

~ The yearly rate has fallen from 30 percent to 6.4 percent.

Since the passage of a local sales tax that increased officer salaries, the Cape Girardeau Police Department has seen far better retention rates.

Between July 2003 and July 2004, the turnover rate for Cape Girardeau police officers was about 30 percent, according to assistant chief Randy Roddy. "It was a serious problem," he said.

But a quarter-cent public safety sales tax that went into effect December 2004 seems to have stemmed the turnover.

Since July 1, 2005, five officers have left the department. One of them was police chief Steve Strong, who retired. That is a much lower turnover rate of about 6.4 percent police officials attribute to the salary increase. "It's very obvious that was the reason," Roddy said.

The sales tax is expected to generate $20 million over the next 10 years, according to the city finance department. Half of that will go toward capital expenses, such as major equipment and the new fire station. The rest is earmarked for salaries.

On average, police salaries rose by 12 percent, boosting starting officers' annual pay from $24,100 to $29,536 the year the tax took effect.

Also increased was the top pay all officers can expect to receive for any given rank. The highest yearly salary for a patrolman in 2006 is $45,700, which would be obtained toward the end of the officer's career.

"I think our top pays are extremely competitive," Roddy said.

But increases in starting officer pay for the city may have had a negative effect on the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, which is fraught with high turnover rates among its deputies.

The county sheriff's department hopes passage of Proposition 1, a countywide half-cent sales tax to be voted on Aug. 8, will help alleviate the problem. The sales tax would generate about $5.9 million in the first year, half of which would go toward the sheriff's department, county commissioners have promised.

The money to the department would be used to increase salaries to a more competitive level with other law enforcement agencies in the area, according to Sheriff John Jordan.

"We have fallen far behind" other law enforcement agencies, Jordan said. "It's not a want. We need help to stay competitive."

In his 12 years as sheriff, Jordan has seen 173 people leave the department. The turnover rate is about 29 percent, just under what Cape Girardeau's used to be.

Most of the patrol officers who have left have gone to other law enforcement departments. In the last few years, at least nine have left for local agencies, such as Cape Girardeau or Jackson police, he said.

"We've been labeled with training for other law enforcement agencies," he said. "It's very distressing."

Currently, starting deputy officers receive a salary of $23,747 a year. With the passing of the sales tax, the officers would be at the same level as current starting Cape Girardeau police officers, a little more than $30,000, Jordan said. Unlike Cape Girardeau police, the sheriff's department does not place a cap on deputies' yearly salary.

Another factor for turnover rates at the sheriff's department is the stress that comes with the job, Jordan said.

Officers are not paid for overtime but accumulate compensation time to take off. So when enough officers work overtime and take their time off, at times only one officer may be on duty to patrol 577 square miles of the county, the sheriff said.

The passage of the sales tax would also help with this problem by increasing the department's staff of only 13 patrol officers by five, the sheriff said.

Cape Girardeau police officers have the choice between comp time or overtime pay. The department has $191,000 budgeted in 2006 for overtime.

"Everybody wants more money, but sometimes it's nice to go home to your family," police spokesman Jason Selzer said.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127