Saturday, March 10, 2018

WBTV's 78 Second Sound Bite On CMPD Officer Pay

It didn't have a lot of substance, ran less than 90 seconds and didn't get a lot of traction after it aired. But WBTV's sound bite on Officer pay was at least a start.

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) Raleigh Police are on their way to Charlotte for a recruiting event Friday, as CMPD officers demand better pay and benefits from Charlotte city officials Some local officers tell WBTV many are leaving for better opportunities.

I never thought I would be one to leave,” said one former CMPD officer who asked we not reveal his identity. He left his badge behind two months ago. “Good people are leaving,” he said. “I can assure you that former colleagues of mine that were excellent police officers, were an absolute asset to CMPD, left for better opportunities.

And so did he, taking his nine years’ experience to the private sector. Like many officers in Charlotte, he says the tough choice was all about pay, benefits, and ultimately - family.

“When you go to work every day and kiss your kids goodbye, not knowing full-well if you’re going to come home or not, and doing it while living paycheck to paycheck and not having the benefits that a profession that puts you in harm’s way should provide, it’s incredibly difficult,” he said. Right now, a new CMPD recruit will make just more than $43,000 to start, with the chance to eventually rise to nearly $66,000 as an officer.

But officers recently told city council – it is coming up short. “We’re leaving for places like Raleigh that’ll pay their officers more than $70,000, compared to just $60,000 here,” Daniel Redford, a current 12-year veteran of CMPD, told the Charlotte City Council.

As Raleigh prepares for a recruiting event in Charlotte on Friday, opportunities like this are causing some to have concern for the retention rate in Charlotte. “You don’t want a situation where you’re filling police academies with bodies instead of cops because that’ll have a detrimental effect for anyone who lives and works in and around Charlotte,” the former officer said.

CMPD officers are asking the council to consider a 15 percent pay increase for them in the next budget. Council members have told WBTV that they hear the officers’ message “loud and clear".

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

The City of Charlotte has been falling behind with keeping up with pay and benefits. The City is providing less and reducing employee benefits every year. They are simply not keeping competitive with other Cities. They are losing firefighters and police officers to other cities EVERYDAY! Instead of handing money to sports teams, settling lawsuits, or blowing it on stupid crap, they need to reinvest in their employees who make Charlotte what it is.

Anonymous said...

Its hard to ask for a 15% raise when we have some many P.O.S officers that still exist and survive on this department. We need to clean up our department...with the agreement to get a 15% raise in return. City Council knows all about the fat-asses, incest whores, tokens, and druggies that work with us! Our brass can't even keep their pants on...and sleep with pill poppers and academy instructors. Change has to occur on both sides....

Anonymous said...

Yes. With piss poor management, what do you expect?

When you are IN the department and won't speak up to clean it up, what do you expect?

There is no accountability and everyone is looking out for themselves, unwilling to correct the problems within the department. But you expect citizens to pony up more money? Give us a department completely worth respect and good pay!
That means ditching all bad officers.
That means more training for officers that could be great and have the correct mindset also, but need more training.
That means having enough respect for your uniform and the citizens you're supposed to protect and serve to report bad and/or illegal conduct so it will stop.
I'd be happy to pay more for that than suffer with the jerks you let run around with you now and the ones in charge. And I'd much rather pay for better salaries for the great officers we do still have and to recruit more than to shell out money for lawsuits when the bad ones do something horrible.

Anonymous said...

I think a number of us predicted this shit storm in the wake of Rodney Monroes short but devastating tenure. Not everyone signs up for this work for the money because we know that it is public service. LEADERSHIP is important during these times and you really cant expect leadership qualities from the the head bobbers that he promoted.

Anonymous said...

That 15% will get CMPD to almost exactly where Raleigh is at pay-wise. They still offer take home cars for all employees and pay the employee portion of the insurance. Just pay alone will not stop the hemorrhage. The council and the Dept must start reinstating some of the benefits that were lost over the years, and get very creative or we will be back to the 1980s crime levels.

Anonymous said...

Oh nooo....Preston, Kerl, Rudd, and Fat Sue are going to quit. We better give them their raise or else the city will never be the same!!

-Metro CRU

Anonymous said...

Lol.... whys it gotta be about Metro 😆

Anonymous said...

Shit..at least Metro see real crime. Nothing says "I can't do police work like "Training Academy Staff" or "South..insert title". We are working in a house of cards.

Anonymous said...

Back off South! The badge gives us meaning.

The Airport drives golf carts and doesn't even notice coworkers at the airport when we walk past. Too busy on their phones looking at nudes of other cops.

Anonymous said...

Alright, lets all calm it down. During these hard times, we need to fall in line, and listen to the experience and intelligence of our supervisors. I see a bright future on the horizon of the department.

Sgt. Warith Allah Muhammed

Anonymous said...

Sad.....Stay focused gents. Do not discredit your hard work and efforts. I know its tough, I know the Dept is broken in a few ways. I know there are more than a handful of turds in the mix, I also know there are a lot of very hard working Officers grinding every day that deserve credit for their efforts and their ability to stay focused day in and day out, through the shit they have to contend with. I know its a tough Job. and having a Dept that is in the condition this one is in makes the shifts a lot longer and seem a lot tougher. I commend each and everyone of you who's give a damn is not broke and who are out there daily trying to be that change that the Dept needs. case by case, situation bu situation, call after call........Thank You for everything that you do. take care of each other, Be Safe.

Anonymous said...

"out there daily trying to be that change that the Dept needs"
"I know there are more than a handful of turds in the mix"
It's more than a handful. And if you know, you need to remove them. Otherwise, you are not the change the Dept. needs. Turning a blind eye to corruption, stupidity, abuse, is not any more acceptable than participating in it. You can't lie to yourself and say it's someone else's responsibility to report and address because it's yours.

Also, "gents" ? Please crawl into the last century, at least.
It's great men and women who are doing the job.

Anonymous said...

I am sorry for the "Gents"...you've got me dead to right, I am used to addressing Infantry Marines. I really do wish I was in a position to do something about what is and has been occurring for a long time. I saw the negativity and was trying to commend all of you for the hard work you have done for many years. Thank You for your honesty and direction. The Dept has the same issues most larger city departments share across the nation. There is no magic button, phrase or pill to fix it. I would love to have a solution. For now, since I do not, I was trying to be positive.

Anonymous said...

Okay, Marine. Thank you for your service. And for being positive.

Anonymous said...

CMPD has become a place where a loser can get a job and keep it for 10 years.
Especially if they are black. These people get a promotion after 7 years and scare off all the new talent that have brains. Its hard to fire a LT or SGT or get them to change their ways.

Anonymous said...

The city has never valued it's employees. They have been freezing pay and screwing the pay scale anytime a billionaire with money comes a courting.
Bob Johnson, Bruton Smith and so on.
Mix that with Bad leadership internally even good and conciencious cops become dead weight. Collecting a check to feed their families and protecting themselves.

Anonymous said...

Cedar, whats the deal with the cop having sex in the LEC weight room? Was that Stukey, or someone different this time? Was there a termination or another sweep under the rug.