PD officials make case for pay increases

The Cape Girardeau City Council hosted a more than 90-minute study session focused on public safety Thursday, Feb. 9. At the session both Cape Girardeau Police Department chief Wes Blair and assistant chief Adam Glueck made the case before council members the need for salary increases across the board as pay staggers slightly behind regional partners.

The city is in the midst of its annual budget process with individual departments supposed to submit preliminary proposals earlier this month.

"We're the lowest paid police department in this area," Glueck said.

Both Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office and Jackson Police Department raised starting officer pay 7 and 10%, respectively. CGPD officers make anywhere from $100 to almost $3,000 less per year than other local law enforcement officers within the county despite a pay raise last July.

"It shouldn't be that way. It should not," councilman Robbie Guard said. "We should be paying the most."

The department also has to compete with agencies in other state attempting to poach talent because of what Blair characterized as an "epidemic" of people not wanting to get into law enforcement for various reasons, including starting pay and national public sentiment.

Despite the challenges, CGPD has been replenish the officer ranks recently, going from short 20 officers at one point in 2022 to just 9. Blair said the force that the department has right now is "adequate" because of force multipliers like ShotSpotter -- which the chief said CGPD will look to expand again in the spring -- reducing the need for manpower.

"I've never seen a police department that was actually totally fully staffed for more than a minute," Blair said.

The chief added that while the goal is nice, it's not necessarily realistic. The area CGPD desperately needs staff is in the jail.

A mere four of the available 12 jailer positions are filled. In order to operate the jail -- which is open 24/7 -- off-duty officers and part-time employees are being pulled in to help. Pay was once again the catalyst for the shortage, Glueck said. Jailer positions for the city pay around $1 less per hour than the county.

Because of the jailer dearth, the department is no longer able to house federal prisoners on the premises, eliminating a revenue source of more than $10,000 a month, police officials said. Around eight to 10 jailers are needed in order for the chief to feel comfortable housing federal prisoners again, he added.

Blair said in conversations with the U.S. Marshals Service that they are more than willing to restart housing federal prisoners in Cape Girardeau once staffing numbers rebound.

Overall, the chief said that from a budgetary standpoint CGPD is doing fine, the hours of overtime pay balance out with the missing salaries because of openings. However, he added that the overtime and shortages have reduced the quality of life for his employees. He said he believes that raising pay will help retention and recruitment and increase that quality.

"You know, we were very lucky to get the pay increase that we got this last year, but guess what, everybody around us just increased their pay again," Blair said. "So then that puts us right behind the curve, again."