Proposal could raise Durham police and firefighter pay

After months of staffing shortages, high turnover and overworked first responders, Durham could be one step closer to improving public safety concerns.

Posted 9:43 p.m. Jan 18, 2022 — Updated 1:56 p.m. Jan 19, 2022

Lora Lavigne

, WRAL Durham reporter

DURHAM, N.C. — After months of staffing shortages, high turnover and overworked first responders, Durham could be one step closer to improving public safety concerns.

On Tuesday night, Durham City Council unanimously passed the proposal to approve the raise for firefighters and police officers.

In December, WRAL News reported that Durham police lacked the staffing to enforce certain laws, such as forgoing checking on city parks at night for trespassers or stopping drivers running red lights. Police supervisors had taken on patrol shifts to help cover the staffing crisis; firefighters have been doubling up shifts to ensure coverage.

Currently, there are 87 officer vacancies in the Durham Police Department and 34 responder vacancies in the Durham Fire Department.

“We’ve got senior people, high-ranking people, ready to leave the city,” said Jimie Wright, president of the Professional Firefighters of Durham.

Staffing crisis means Durham police officers sometimes told not to enforce laws

For the new adjustment, the city studied 13 municipalities: Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Cary, Greensboro, Charlotte, Morrisville, Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Apex, Fayetteville, Norfolk and Richmond in Virginia.

The study found Durham’s police pay lagged by 12% and firefighter pay lagged by 10% when compared to the average pay of the other municipalities in the study.

“This past year in 2021 we have had the highest turnover that I remember during my time. We lost about 35 firefighters,” Wright said of the historic numbers.

The new proposal could raise first responder pay

Police salaries could go up by 10.6%, from $38,511 to $42,593
Firefighter salaries could go up by 14.3%, from $35,592 to $40,682

Wright acknowledges this move is a step in the right direction, but is concerned the difference in pay between new and existing firefighters will make it harder to keep good employees long-term.

“We have firefighters now who have been here for four or five years, who are actually certified to drive trucks, and if this plan goes through as is, they’ll be making the same amount as someone who is day one out of the academy,” said Wright.

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The union is asking for adjustments in the budget to include raises for the experienced employees too.

“We’ve got at least 155 firefighters who are severely compressed. The new plan is going to help put them at market, but doesn’t fix where some people have jumped over other people throughout the course of their career,” he said.

Wright says the community needs to invest in public safety, especially as the city continues growing.

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“At the end of the day if the city is going to continue to grow at a substantial rate like it has been, there’s gonna be a lot of needs from public safety to ensure the safety of the citizens and residents of Durham,” he said.

If the raises pass, they’ll be applied to paychecks on January 28.

The changes would cost the city $9.5 million, annually.

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