SCOTT CITY COUNCIL INCREASES POLICE PAY

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Pay at the Scott City Police Department has never been better, but a few officers are concerned that it still might not be enough.

The Scott City Council voted last week to raise starting police salaries to $8.75 an hour, an increase from the $7.10 set three years ago, said Erika Glock, city administrator. It marked the second increase in three years, she said.

Police Capt. Janice Stroup said some of the 11 patrol officers in the department were anticipating a bigger boost and were disappointed with the raise.

"Whether this means some of them are going to leave, I just don't know," Stroup said.

Scott City Mayor Tim Porch said he brought up the possibility of 16 percent pay raises for police during meetings with officers but stressed it was never promised.

The council ultimately approved merit raises for officers ranging from a few percentage points up to 14 percent.

The department's overall budget increased from $479,740 the previous fiscal year to $524,195 for this year, Glock said. The largest portion of the budget increase involved salaries and benefits, which grew from $396,155 to $454,400.

The council has done its best to keep the department's equipment in shape, Glock said. The city spent more than $3,800 last year to outfit all the patrol officers with new bullet-proof vests.

Although there has been talk about patrol cars being in poor mechanical condition, police chief Danny Clubb said no officer has brought them to his attention.

Porch stated emphatically that equipment problems must be brought to the city's attention through official channels to make necessary repairs.

In the meantime, fixing salaries will continue to be a focus, he said.

"It hurts me when I have to sign some of those checks, because I know the amount of work these officers do," Porch said.

For the past three years, police turnover has not been an issue in the small department. Only two officers have left, Clubb said.

More turnover possible

Stroup said she believes this could change. Law enforcement officers throughout the region are considering the better pay and benefits of working at the maximum-security Southeast Correctional Center, she said. A corrections officer with no experience will be able to earn $19,080 when the state prison at Charleston, Mo., opens.

For a city of 4,200, pay just above $8 an hour is too little, said Jerry Wolsey, a private investigator and district manager for Security Services of America. Security guards in his firm with less training than a police officer can make $10 an hour, he said.

Clubb understands that his officers are underpaid. That was part of the police chief's motivation for telling the council he did not want a raise for himself. With less than a year before he plans to retire, the money that would have been spent on him was better used for the officers, Clubb said.

In Chaffee, Mo., with a population of approximately 1,200 less than Scott City, officers earn $9.37 an hour, police chief Don Cobb said.

If Scott City only had a seven-officer department like Chaffee, the hourly pay would be at least equal, Porch said.

"We can only do so much with the money we have," he said.