Letters to Great Bend City Council members and/or city officials from the local Fraternal Order of Police chapter express concern over staffing shortages within the Great Bend Police Department, blaming this on salaries that fail to compete with other cities. Members are frustrated with a lack of response, officer moral, and worry about the safety of the community.
“The concern regarding compensation has to do with the (lack of separation) of pay between officers who recently started with the department and officers who have served for several years,” reads a letter to the council and administration on behalf of the FOP Lodge No. 23 dated April 19 from Overland Park attorney Matthew R. Huntsman. “The staffing concerns are inseparable from the compensation issues.”
In a follow-up letter that went only to the council and Mayor Mike Allison, the FOP noted that as of May 11, Huntsman had not “received any correspondence regarding the letter you had been given. We feel these concerns are very important and would like to hear from you and the council members.”
But, “this is something we’ve been working on,” City Administrator Howard Partington said. “I don’t know how the council is going to react” to the letters.
From the city’s perspective, it has taken steps to improve pay. The City Council voted to raise salaries in 2015 and since has also approved increasing the city’s contribution to the retirement fund.
The wages for GBPD officers, as well as for the Great Bend Fire Department, come up annually as the council works on the budget, Partington said. The the 2018 budget planning process begins June 9 when council members tour city facilities.
In addition, after considerable discussion, the council is looking at plans to build a new police station.
That being said, the Great Bend FOP is not a chartered chapter. Since this is the case, Partington said the city doesn’t recognize it as a union.
What are the complaints?
At present, the Great Bend Police Department is staffed by only 25 officers, including Chief Cliff Couch, according to the first letter. “The Department requires 30 officers to properly operate. As a result of this understaffing, numerous officers are required to work mandatory overtime to simply keep the Department running. Even more overtime is required if officers take vacation or call in sick.”
This letter went to city administrators as well as council members.
According to the letter, 20 applicants recently applied to work for the GBPD. However, the process did not result anyone being hired. “The simple fact is that, despite the recent increase in pay for junior Great Bend police officers, qualified applicants continue to pursue careers with other police departments across the state. For the Department to hire additional qualified applicants, it must be more competitive in the State of Kansas.”
In response to the lack of hires from the most recent group of applicants, the Great Bend Police Department recently increased starting pay to $17.27 per hour for new hires who hold law enforcement officer certification, and $16.46 per hour for those who do not have experience.
“This increase raised the floor for new applicants, but it addressed only a portion of the problems contributing to unnecessary officer turnover,” the letter said. “To the contrary, it made it even more apparent that the compensation for experienced officers has fallen behind other police departments.”
This means, Huntsman said, that officers are leaving Great Bend to find more competitive salary packages and improved working conditions. Recently, Great Bend has lost officers to the Lansing Police Department and the Barton County Sheriff’s Office. “This in turn creates additional pressure on the remaining officers, who must attempt to provide police services while understaffed.”
Why is this a big deal?
The city has a significant interest in becoming more competitive in order to keep trained and experienced police officers, Huntsman writes, since recruiting and training police officers is a costly endeavor. There is advertising and coordinating the recruitment, written and physical tests, background checks, as well as medical, psychological, and drug screening. New uniforms and gear can cost as much as $2,500.
Then there is training. In addition to orientation and classes, the new recruits receive 14 weeks of field training and are required to spend 14 weeks in the academy, during which the officers are being paid.
The Great Bend Police Department currently pays experienced officers mandatory overtime to fully staff the department. “This overtime expense increases the financial burden on the city and the Police Department,” the letter said. “Beyond the financial costs of an understaffed Police Department are the costs of reduced efficiency, productivity, and morale. This can lead to a vicious cycle: increased turnover deteriorates the working conditions and creates an incentive for other experienced officers to look for employment opportunities in competing police departments.”
What is the FOP seeking?
Attorney Huntsman said the officers want the city to conduct a survey of other area police departments to gauge levels of pay. This would determine if Great Bend is or is not competitive.
However, to his knowledge, that survey has not been done. He has been told by city officials they first want to launch an internal investigation to see why officers are leaving.
However, Huntsman said some of the officers see this differently. “I have heard concerns that the investigation is response to the letters.”
“We are studying why the nine officers have left the department in the last couple of years,” City Attorney Bob Suelter said. “This study was started before the letters were received. It is being carried out to try to solve a perceived problem and not in retribution for anything.”
Pay issues will have to be addressed in the budget process.
A big piece of the pie
Historically, the Police Department takes the largest portion of the city’s budget, about 14 percent of the pie, according to city budget documents from last year. This is followed by the Fire Department at 11 percent, and water and sewer at 10 percent each.
The 2017 Police Department budget totaled $2,679,000, up $70,000 from 2016. The total city budget for 2017 was right at $25.5 million.
The 2016 figure was up from about $2.4 million in 2015. The actual 2015 budget was $20.1 million and in 2016, the revised budget was $20.9 million.
In the past three years, the City Council has directed the administration to make higher wages for police and fire a top priority, as evidenced from the council goal sessions from 2014 through 2016.
Other communities
In the letter, the FOP recommended that a survey of police wages include the Lansing Police Department, the Hays Police Department, the McPherson Police Department and the Barton County Sheriff’s Office. These were suggested as they are where Great Bend officers have gone, so the Great Bend Tribune contacted them.
Lansing: Out of a police budget in 2016 of $1.6 million, about $1.4 went to salaries. According to City Administrator Tim Vandall, starting salaries for new officers with no experience or post-secondary education is in between $18-19. With experience, military background or a bachelor’s degree, it is on the high side of $19. It is also the largest part of the city’s general fund budget.
Hays: The total 2017 budget for the City of Hays was $37,990,311, of which $ 2,087,069 went to the Police Department. The starting wage for an officer is $17.56 per hour.
McPherson: The total budget for police in McPherson has been increased recently and was at $2.5 million for 2017, or 20 percent of the general fund, Finance Director Mark Moffitt said. Following recent pay hikes, patrol officers make between $19-25. Lieutenants come in at $27. Moffitt said they are fighting losing officers to other communities as well.
Barton County Sheriff’s Office: According to Sheriff Brian Bellendir, the entry-level wage for an inexperienced deputy is $14.25. The BCSO budget totals $2,600,000, with $1.3 million of that going to the Detention Facility. At the county level, the largest slice of the budget goes to the Road and Bridge Department.
