[Venifera]

In a distressed community I work in, the police are poorly paid (it's about $8/hour) and their level of training coming on to the force is lower, too. This makes them retreat from potentially dangerous situations and also makes them want to move on to better paying jobs soon after taking the job with us.

My question is:
What other things can we do (besides large pay raises or expensive training and equipment) to make it better for our police so that they can do their job more effectively and feel more committed to the job?

[Marriedguy]

Where do you live? I thought New York City was bad police officiers starting pay is $31k per year with 60 college credits.

Write the mayors office you get enough people complaining they will allocate more funds toward the police force.

[Venifera]

Thanks. Unfortunately this is a community in SW PA that is too small to afford any more money for police. In fact, they are over-taxing businesses and they are moving out, too.

Where do you live? I thought New York City was bad police officiers starting pay is $31k per year with 60 college credits.

Write the mayors office you get enough people complaining they will allocate more funds toward the police force.

[N0help4u]

Sounds like the Pittsburgh Police but I don't know how much they are paid. They over tax and give poor service with everything. Downtown is about a ghost town other than office buildings.
They cut service and combined Southside and West End Police station into one because of the way the city handles finances. It is at least a 20 minute drive to get from the South Side station to the West End on a good day.
I think may places are only going to get way worse unless a developer decides to come in and develop your area. Or maybe at a community meeting bring up checking into grants for police stations.
I know where I live the Police get loads of grants because I am next to military bases and they consider that a high risk.

It may be easier to move if possible.

[Fr_Chuck]

Well 31 K in New York is about poverty level. In Atlanta, the average department will start officers out at about 35K and Atlanta has nothing like the cost of living in NY. But then often some smaller departments in GA also pay abuot 8 dollars a hour to start. But most still start at about 14 dollars a hour.

So first you are not going to moral in a department if the officers are on welfare and food stamps. A department has to pay their officers a living wage and provide health insurance for their officers, If they don't, they are just a door mat to move on.

And while there are some of us, that will risk our life because it is our job and duty, many will not for less money than the clerk at Walmart makes.

So no matter how much training, if you don't provide enough officers to have good back up, proper equipment to use, a officer will have to back off at some times.

But in the end, good Sgt and Lt who will LEAD is the only thing you can do if you can't do anything else.

[smearcase]

I have no expertise in this area but I have read about similar situations in some smaller communities. Some are able to have the Sheriff's Dept. patrol their jurisdiction and reimburse that dept. on some basis. Others have agreements with State Police, in some cases they have a resident trooper, who is paid additional to be the town constable. You may want to talk to some of the towns in Allegany County, Maryland who are closer to you and have been working to solve these types of problems.
One of those towns has a requirement for new officers to serve at least two (or 3?) years before transferring out or they have to reimburse the town for their training. Some have tested it and have had to pay the town $ 10K. But with a salary so low that would not work for you.
How about Homeland Security funds? I'll stop here, I'm already in over my head. Good Luck.

[Scottish2008]

I good thought for a small community would be to have a majority of friends and nabors assist. Start standing in what you believe in. I do not know what type of community you live in but it's the people that live in it to help. Start writing letters to your town mayer and see if that would push him or her to request for more funding for your police force. I am no expert but it's a good thought.

[excon]

Hello V:

On the law boards here, we get people all the time with real serious issues. They go on and on about how bad things are…… Then, as they're about to sign off they say, “oh by the way, we can't afford a lawyer”.

That's essentially what you did. You presented a problem and said the obvious solution can't take place, so don't even suggest it.

That tells me you have a bigger problem than $8 cops.

In my view, you need to go back to square one. That would be deciding whether you want to BE a town. If not, then quit and let the county do it. If you ARE going to be a town, then figure out a way to PAY for BEING a town. If you decide that you CAN'T be a town because you CAN'T pay for it, then STOP being a town!

Anything in between endangers your $8/hour cop AND your residents. Plus, if one of your $8/hour cop gets hurt, or a resident for that matter, BECAUSE the town was neglectful in training the cops, YOU (assuming you're a town father) may lose your house.

excon

[tomder55]

excon gave exactly the correct answer . The village I live in disbanned the police dept and relies on Township police services. It saved us money without seriously reducing the quality of law enforcement services .