PB chief’s pay low in comparison; mayor says it won’t hinder search
After last week’s whirlwind firing and reinstatement of Pine Bluff Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant by Mayor Shirley Washington, the mayor said in an interview that Sergeant’s remaining tenure with the department would be only long enough for him to finish out the nine months remaining for him to be eligible for full retirement benefits. Her reasoning, she said, was that doing so would give him the chance to retire with a full pension and her the opportunity to conduct a national search for a new chief.
For years, pay in the department has lagged behind the pay at departments in similarsize-cities, a situation the City Council tried to rectify last year by cutting 10 positions — from 141 to 131— from the department budget and applying the approximately $300,000 that measure freed up to fund raises for the 118 uniformed officers employed at that time.
To fund the raises in that way required that the positions be cut because of a mandate that all personnel slots in the budget be funded, including any that are not filled. Reducing those slots from the department’s budget allowed the city to give all uniformed officers an across-theboard $2,772 pay raise in addition to a 5% cost of living increase also included in the budget.
That measure increased the police chief’s annual base salary from $69,245 to $75,483, according to the 2020 city budget. An uncategorized amount of $4,109 brought the base pay up to $79,592. City Finance Director Steve Miller explained that the $4,109 was a “pay to market” amount that the City Council approved a number of years ago when the city was trying to hire a new police chief.
“There’s not a column for it, but that’s an amount the council approved years ago when they hired a new chief,” Miller said. “It wasn’t Chief Sergeant, but it was an amount approved by the council for the chief’s pay and it’s been there ever since.”
After additional amounts for longevity, holiday, certificate and college pay are factored in, the
chief’s budgeted salary is $90,089.
According to the 2020 Arkansas Municipal League salary survey distributed to cities across Arkansas, the average base salary for a police chief in cities with a population of 20,000 to 44,999, before add-ons and bonuses, is $85,785, which is just over $10,000 more than the base salary after the department raises were put into effect.
The next largest city in the survey was Bentonville, listed at 50,000 residents, which, according to the survey, pays its police chief a $113,839 base salary based on data supplied by that city. According to the Municipal League salary survey, the average annual base salary for police chiefs in Arkansas cities with populations of 45,000 or above is $110,878.
Hot Springs, with a population listed at 35,193, pays a base salary of $103,831.
Nationally, according to Salary.com, an online consumer resource for compensation data, among police agencies of all sizes, the average annual salary for police chiefs is $109,300.
Sam Blonder, CEO of Epic Recruiting, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based recruiting firm specializing in law enforcement, said the pay rate Pine Bluff offers could make a national search for police chief challenging.
“That’s pretty low for that job,” Blonder said, although he added that his firm does not do administrative recruiting so he was unable to offer any other specifics.
Washington, however, said she believes the pay won’t necessarily be a barrier to attracting qualified candidates for the job. She referred to a more recent salary survey commissioned by the city that showed police chief salaries in the area range from $78,347 at the low end to $117,521 at the high end, putting Sergeant’s total salary near the midrange point.
“I think we’re in good shape compared to some of the cities in our area,” she said. “If we have to increase a little bit to get a good person, then we just have to take that into consideration, but when I looked at that market survey I felt pretty good about it. I know we’re well above the minimum total salary now.”
Washington said her ideal candidate for police chief would be someone who is comfortable with data and is able to translate data points into policy that will enable the department to engage in more effective policing practices.
“I want someone who can pull together different units in the department to address different segments of crime, and I know we do that, but I think we have to constantly analyze everything we’re doing and try to improve by researching and finding best practices.”
Washington said a high priority with her, both with the current police chief and the next one, will be ensuring that patrol officers no longer turn a blind eye to traffic violations and large group gatherings.
“I don’t think they are aggressive enough when it comes down to making people do what it takes to be law abiding,” she said. “I see too many expired temporary tags on cars. Sometimes I pull up behind a car and see tags that are a year old, you can barely read the date, and you know if I see that the police see it too. They just are not doing anything about it.”
Washington said she had heard that some police are reluctant to write tickets because many of the drivers can’t afford to pay them, but she said pleading poverty should not be an excuse.
“What are you doing? Giving them a free pass to break the law because they can’t pay the ticket?” she said. “It’s time for our police to start enforcing the law.”