2002-04-22 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Session 1837 April 22, 2002 police officer's association this evening. They are requesting an increase in pay. She referenced the St. Louis County Fact Book, which is produced annually, yet always the data is a year behind. She said that Mr. Ollendorff has said that the data is somewhat inaccurate, however she noted that the data is supplied by the different municipalities themselves. She said that Mr. Ollendorff will talk about average salaries and not what is listed in the city ordinances. This could be confusing. The job of police officer is very dangerous and unpredictable and one of the most difficult jobs for a person to take on. The City Manager will tell you that the budget can not handle paying your police officers what they are worth. U. City police officers are ranked number 21 in the St. Louis County area. The Fact Book also notes that the University City budget is the second highest in St. Louis County. The 2001 budget shows the City to be under budget by 1 million dollars, yet Mr. Ollendorff said that the budget would not allow the City to pay the officers top pay. Mr. Ollendorff believes we should keep our officers in the top 25% of all the area. This police force handles twice as many calls for service, as well as the most serious calls for service, per capita, in all of St. Louis County, yet the pay is 30% less than the top paid police department. This police department also has one of the highest turnover rates of any department. Mr. Ollendorff is not too concerned with this issue. These police officers leave to go to more progressive communities with better pay and benefits and more specialized units. Ms. Allen believes that the City Council has been kept in the dark for too long. She invited the Council to come out and ride with them on a regular basis and experience their world. This department is used as a training ground and then they move on to bigger and better, more progressive departments. 66% of the officers on the street have five years or less experience. This means a young, inexperienced police department. It costs money to train and uniform new officers. If we were able to retain our officers the city should be able to save enough money to be able to pay them what they deserve. The police officers have come up with a few solutions to help retain and attract qualified police officers. The first is to match the pay and benefits with the quality and quantity of work to be handled. Secondly, offer specialized units that allow the officers an opportunity for growth. Third, offer work hours that offer the officers some semblance of normalcy in their lives. Fourth, the officers would like participation in the decisions that are made in these types of issues and any others that affect their lives. The officers know that these kinds of issues can't all be addressed at once, but they would like to see measurable progress towards resolving these issues in the immediate future. The police officers would like to see a pay increase of 30% over the next three years and ever year after. They would like stipulated in the city ordinance that the City keep their officers paid in the top five municipalities in the area. The officers would also like the City to consider offering $1,000 matching funds for their ICMA. The officers found out that their health insurance would be increasing 30%, yet the City Manager told the association, that he could not even guarantee them their 2 - 4 % cost of living increase they always get. This increase would not even allow the officers to maintain their current standard of living. Mr. Ollendorff is the highest paid City Manager in the