Article Title: Police Hard Up For Recruits, Competitive Labor Market Blamed

Edition: August 2001
Category: General Interest
Author: Jake Brown
Article:

There is strong competition for police officers across Vermont and the city of Montpelier is feeling the pinch.

In the last year, three officers have resigned from the force, and at press time none of the spots had been filled. While that rate of resignation per year doesn't appear out of line compared with the last five years, it is clear the city has found it harder over the past two years to find new officers to fill open spots.

"We've always been an attractive department," said City Manager William Fraser, because Montpelier, as a city, offers more variety and challenge to officers.

"But now it's taking longer and longer to find people," he said.

Montpelier is not alone in its struggles to find good police officers. The problem is afflicting police departments across the country.

The shortage of police officers around the state -- a phenomenon some municipal insiders have dubbed "the war on talent" -- has prompted the Montpelier city administration to consider raising pay for police officers in the union contract currently being negotiated. Fraser also said Montpelier may add some pay steps to create a more definite career path within the department.

According to Fraser, the state police can offer higher paying police jobs with the possibility of far more advancement. With more opportunities for higher paying jobs, the state police is an attractive option, he said.

For example, a new state police trooper starts at $28,805.40 but with shift differential money that typically increases pay to between about $31,800 and $32,800, according to a state police spokesperson. By year 7, a trooper could be making well over $40,000, according to state pay scale information on the state personnel website.

Starting pay for a Montpelier police officer is $29,571.36 a year and after 7 years that is normally increased to $37,737.44. The city offers no shift differential.

At least one officer who recently left Montpelier went to the state police. Others in the last couple of years have taken jobs with county sheriff's departments. Fraser said he expected that work was more regular and that sheriff's deputies had less contact with unruly bar patrons, domestic violence and other dangerous work than municipal officers have.

An Academy View

The director of the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford, Ron Morell, agreed there is a shortage of police talent out there.

In an era of low unemployment, Morrel said, it's hard to compete with the private sector for candidates, especially for dangerous work.

"When you work at a Microsoft or a Fidelity Investments, you don't have to wonder when you leave for work whether your going to come back."

He said officers in Vermont's small towns start at between $23,000 and $24,000. "That's just not competitive," he said.

Morrell also said that informal academy studies and interviews with candidates have shown that sometimes the ethics of younger people today are different -- and less desirable for police work -- than in years past.

"We'll ask a 20-year-old if they have ever broken the law," he said, "and they'll say, 'No,' but when we ask them if they have drunk alcohol, they say 'yes.' We point out that the drinking age is 21, and they say, 'oh, everybody's doing it.' There's a lot of that attitude out there."

A Test and a Candidate Pool

Chris Morrell, the current Hinesburg police chief and past president of the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police, two years ago developed the idea there should be a test, administered by the state police academy, to increase the pool of potential police officer applicants and make it easier for police agencies to find talent.

The first time the test was administered, Morrell said, there were 180 test takers. Recently there have been more like 60. Despite the drop in numbers, he said the scores are about the same so it appears the quality of people taking the test remains constant.

Morrell said that the public safety field is slow to change and in recent years has been outpaced by aggressive and nimble private sector in attracting applicants.

"We are just not meeting the expectations (of perks and benefits) of the younger generation," he said. "Police departments," he said half-jokingly, " don't offer a special parking space for Police Officer of the Month."

Morrell at his department he is trying to offer a flexible work environment for his officers. He says he has two female officers doing a job-share of a full-time position, and that he offers "flex time" to his officers so police can participate more frequently in outside activities and family life. And two years ago, he said, the Hinesburg select board gave the police officers a "healthy raise" in light of the marketplace.

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