State legislators approve stipend for police officers

Full-time, certified personnel to receive one-time payments

Legislatures have approved bonus payments for law enforcement officers throughout the state as the bill makes its way to the desk of Gov. Asa Hutchinson today to be signed into law.

Hutchinson called on legislators to use approximately $45 million from the general revenue surplus fund to make one-time payments of $5,000 each to every certified city and county law enforcement officer and other frontline officers in the state.

Sen. Ronald Caldwell, RWynne, said the stipend will extend to all state, city and county law enforcement agencies with Arkansas State Troopers seeing a difference compared to other officers.

"State Troopers will get $2,000, unlike the city and county officers, because in another bill that is unrelated to this one, they will also receive a pay raise, so they will not get the other $3,000," said Caldwell. "This bill will provide $5,000 to all city and county certified, full-time officers."

Rep. Reginald Murdock, DMarianna, said having the certification of being a law enforcement officer is the main requirement.

"The only requirement is that the officers are certified," said Murdock. "If a dispatcher or jailer is a certified officer, then they would fall into the requirements and receive the stipend. From the big picture level, having that certification is the qualifier."

According to Caldwell, in addition to being a certified officer, they must also meet other criteria to qualify for the payment.

"You have to be a certified officer, you have to work full-time and work at least 24 hours per week," said Caldwell. "If they have been hired for something like a three-week stint or temporarily to fill in for another officer they will not qualify. Officers must also work for the same department for another six months or it has to be paid back to the state. If they get hired and certified before Jan. 31, 2023, they will qualify for the funds but they will still have to work there for another six months or pay the money back."

Caldwell said there was an amendment presented to the Senate during a special session in 2021 that would have paid all certified law enforcement officers and cost the state $76 million.

"Originally, this started out in a special session last fall as they tried to add it on to one of the revenue bills as an amendment. It was going to give a every certified law enforcement officer $3,500 and cost the state somewhere around $76 million," said Caldwell. "All certified officers, including the commander of the State Police who makes six figures a year, would have been included in the previous bill. We were able, using these excess funds, to make this happen and cost less."

According to Murdock, these are jobs that have been overlooked in the past as it relates to pay scale in the state.

"I think this is a much deserved and needed stipend," said Murdock. "This is a very worthy vocation that provides us with safety and protection in our communities. I am so happy to see that we were able to get this done. We fought very hard to make this happen and those are the things that matter in these climates. We are happy to help those who protect and help us. These jobs are some of those that have been overlooked many times as it relates to pay. I, and others, worked very hard to help make this come to fruition. I am very happy and these people are absolutely deserving of it."

Caldwell said a lot of the law enforcement officers in the state need these funds for new equipment and help outside of the department.

"I think this is an excellent thing for our law enforcement agencies," said Caldwell. "This will work as a morale booster and

as a retention bonus due to the requirement of having to stay on board at that location. A lot of these officers need new gear and some help all around. We hope we are able to lend this hand to them."

According to St. Francis County Sheriff Bobby May, it takes about 13 weeks to complete the police academy to become a certified law enforcement officer.

"To receive the stipend, the officer must be certified law enforcement," said May. "Unfortunately, that does not include our jailers or dispatchers. To be certified, you have to go to the police academy, which I believe is 13 weeks of training now. I don't believe it extends to myself, even though I have been to the academy. Because I am elected to this position, I do not think this extends to myself."

Forrest City Police Chief Deon

Lee said this stipend could really be a good thing for the FCPD.

"I think that by all means this stipend will be a good thing," said Lee. "I think a lot of the negativity that we receive on a day-to-day basis can be helped by seeing that our state officials, legislators and our governor back our departments. I think this is a really good thing. In the Forrest City Police Department, we have 23 certified police officers working with us now. This will be a really good thing for our department."

According to Lee, with how police have been viewed over the last few years, hopefully the support from the state level will help shine a light on their work.

"I do think this will help morale within all police departments," said Lee. "Over the last few years, police all over the country have had somewhat of a target on their backs. I really think this will help morale all across our state with our police officers."

May said police officers throughout the nation are not paid enough for the jobs they do on a daily basis and he hopes this will improve retention of officers.

"I am very grateful to our legislators and our governor for supporting and approving this," said May. "This will be very helpful to our deputies, especially with all of the higher inflation of prices lately. We have 19 certified deputies at this time, and while we usually have a very high morale throughout our department, I also believe that this will help it grow even higher. Police officers are not paid high enough throughout the country for the jobs they do. It is very dangerous, and these men and women go out every single day and do their best to protect their communities. They have definitely earned this."