SCOTT CITY POLICE TO RESTRUCTURE CHAIN OF COMMAND

SCOTT CITY -- The Scott City Police Department is restructuring its chain of command, but it likely won't solve the department's high rate of employee turnover.

Police Chief David Beck said the changes will simply "make things run a little smoother" and won't mean raises for department employees.

"We're just narrowing it down," Beck said. "We'll have one supervisor over the dispatchers and one supervisor over the road."

The department will go from having a chief, sergeant and corporal to a chief, road sergeant and administrative sergeant. The City Council approved the changes this month.

The restructuring also calls for "a sufficient number" of patrolmen and dispatchers, which will be determined by the department chief and the mayor "for the protection and welfare of the city."

Beck said the department's current employees are being required to compete for new sergeant positions along with prospective employees who submit resumes. However, present employees are not in danger of losing their jobs, he said.

The chief said the new titles won't mean an increase in pay for any employees. Police salaries in Scott City are comparatively low, a factor that has prompted, according to some city officials, almost 10 employees to leave the department in the past year and a half.

The new sergeant positions are being advertised at an annual salary of $15,479. Patrolmen's salaries usually start at about $12,000 depending on rank and experience, according to a department salary scale.

A pay raise proposed in June by the chief for patrolmen and dispatchers was turned down by the City Council.

On Monday, dispatcher Anthony Sparks asked the City Council to accept his resignation. In his letter of resignation, he told council members he had found a better- paying job.

And currently, the department is short one patrolmen.

"It's getting to be the story of our life," said Mayor Shirley Young. "You hate to lose good employees when you've trained them, but you can't blame them for going on to a better-paying job."

The mayor said the department often serves as a training ground for policemen and dispatchers. She said most of the time employees with college degrees don't stay long. "You can't expect them to stay," she said.

Young said the salary level in the department hasn't affected the performance of employees who have stayed. She said the department currently has a solve rate of 80 percent for crimes in the city. She said the rate continues to go up each year.

"We've been lucky that we have a good chief here," she said. "But it must be frustrating to keep training people so they can get a better job elsewhere."

Young said members of the police department deserve higher salaries, but the City Council "does not seem to be inclined to raise them."

New sergeant positions will likely be filled within the next few weeks, she said.

Duties of the road sergeant are to supervise and schedule road officers, assist with the department's budget, assist with investigations and act as chief in the chief's absence. Duties of the administrative sergeant are to act as head communications officers, assist with the budget, and supervise reports.