WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — As the saying goes it’s hard to find good help these days, but in Wrightsville Beach, finding good help is just part of the problem for the police department — keeping that help is proving to be an issue as well.
Retaining police officers in Wrightsville Beach has been an issue for several years but it reached a critical point in 2015 when the town lost 10 officers to other employment between April and October.
After spending more than a year rehiring and recruiting new officers, the town has once again seen a loss in staff, according to Chief of Police Dan House.
The topic was placed on the town’s Board of Aldermen budget agenda on Tuesday, however, House was at a conference and requested the item be continued until he is back in town.
In 2018 the police department lost several officers, according to the presentation. The town is currently short staffed by five officers with an additional three on their way out.
The crux of the problem is simple — the money is just not enough.
The current starting salary for a new police officer in Wrightsville beach is $34,164, approximately $3,800 lower than the area average.
42 employees over seven years
Over the summer, House conducted a study of all of the current employees and those that had left within the past seven years.
“In total, we have hired, trained and then lost 42 employees over the past seven years. Of that amount, 16 either retired, were fired, resigned in lieu of termination or failed to successfully complete our field training process,” House said. “Setting those aside that left 26 other employees that we recruited, hired, and trained that left the Wrightsville Beach Police Department.”
So who were these 26 cops that left? Well, all but four of them were first-time police officers hired right out of the academy. Of the 26, 12 left the town in less than three years of hiring.
According to the town’s analysis, it is two times more likely they will retain officers that have previous law enforcement experience than an officer fresh out of the Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) program.
It’s not just bad for the department in terms of morale, losing these employees actually costs the town a significant amount of money.
Experts estimate that total cost of turnover is approximately 205 percent of an officers salary. That equates to approximately $69,000 per full-time officer position lost. For the Wrightsville Beach Police Department that is approximately $345,000 annually,” according to the presentation.
What to do?
In an effort to address the high turnover rates House has created a proposal to address salary issues. The first recommendation is to change the pay scale to increase starting officer pay from $34,164 to $39,549 annually.
This would bring the town up to similar pay levels as other area agencies while remaining competitive. This option would cost the town approximately $93,000.
In terms of retention, House is suggesting the addition of a certificate program that would offer raises at specified milestones.
The State of North Carolina offers an intermediate through advanced certificate program through the NC Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission … Officers could be eligible for their intermediate certificate at year two, year, four, year six, or year eight depending on their advanced education and advanced training,” House said in his memo.
Once officers meet the different milestones they would be eligible for a 5 percent pay increase once they receive their certificates.
The Board of Aldermen will likely discuss these options in the near future when the chief is back.
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