'Slap in the face:' Longtime Raleigh police officers push back on salary proposal
Every law enforcement agency in Wake County has a higher starting salary than Raleigh Police Department. A proposal in front of City Council would raise salaries across the board, but some police union members say it doesn't go far enough and have taken to social media to make their point.
"We want the new people. We want the recruits — we'll give them substantial raises. But you've been here 5, 10, 15 years, we don't care that much about you," said Raleigh Police Protective Association spokesman Rick Armstrong.
When City Council meets next week, they are going to be met by protesters right outside the Raleigh Municipal Building who say the proposal doesn’t do enough to reward veteran police officers and firefighters.
"It was truly a slap in the face to basically give these veteran officers half of what they're giving new recruits," said Armstrong.
While most city leaders agree Raleigh must pay its entry-level officers more to compete with other agencies. City Council is looking to fill the police department's 168 vacancies, which is about 20 percent of the total force, by upping minimum pay in every category, with the biggest jump for new officers.
"It's a serious concern. I've gotten literally dozens of text messages and phone calls in the past day about just an outrage," said Armstrong. "A lot of officers are just wanting to go somewhere else. They're so frustrated."
A member of RPPA posted a meme on Instagram using the infamous moment Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars. In the meme, Raleigh represents Smith while veteran officers are depicted as Rock.
"The bottom line is other departments are paying higher ... and it's probably safer to work in some of these small towns, and the cost of living is a lot less," said Armstrong.
Armstrong said he agrees a pay raise for entry level officers from $42,000 to $50,000 makes sense. But he says to make it fair, veteran officers must also get substantial pay raises.
"We know police is a hard job, especially the past two years," said Armstrong.
"[RPD] did a good job in recruiting more officers, but guess what? They all left," said Armstrong. "That's why we sit at even higher vacancy rate than we had five years ago, which is something that I haven't seen in over 25 years with 168 vacancies. It's just a phenomenal number, and I think that number will only get worse until they address the real issue, which is a retention problem."
But Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said under the plan, Police Chief Estella Patterson will have the option to give merit raises to veteran officers.
"[Patterson] has the ability to award higher raises to those who may be making more and maybe somebody leapfrogs them. So there's a lot of discretion," said Baldwin.
City leaders are balancing upping entry level salaries, Baldwin said, with rewarding long-term employees as they work to fill the vacancies.
"We have to look at the city as a whole, so I feel we're doing the best we can," said Baldwin.
WRAL News reached out to Patterson for an interview on Thursday. She initially agreed but then canceled saying she will withhold her comments on staffing and pay until the budget process is complete. The city budget will come up for a vote in June and take effect July 1.
