Poplar Bluff Police Department expects to lose roughly one-third of its force to retirement in the next eight years, as members say lagging pay, benefits and support for equipment puts them at a hiring disadvantage.
A union could help facilitate the conversations that need to take place to protect the quality of the department, according to some members of law enforcement.
The matter has been placed on the city council workshop agenda for Monday. The council will discuss establishing a system for the department to select a representative to engage in collective bargaining.
At least 37 out of 50 members of the department have signed cards indicating they are interested in joining the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 702, said Sgt. Keith Hefner, who has been with the department since 1995. IBEW represents a variety of workers beyond utilities, including one other police department.
Several members who have not signed cards are waiting for additional information, said Hefner.
Even the officers who have not signed cards yet recognize the department and its employees have to be addressed by the city very soon, said Captain David Sutton, a 20-year veteran officer
"We need somebody who can advocate on behalf of the department and on behalf of the officers without fear of reprisal," Sutton said in a recent interview.
An organized union would help the department maintain the resources and funding needed to recruit the best applicants, said Sgt. Chuck Harris, who has been with the department since 2003.
The Poplar Bluff department ranked last or nearly last in a comparison of maximum officer pay for several different ranks when stacked up against other communities of a similar demographic, according to Sutton. Salary information was collected from the Missouri Municipal League for Poplar Bluff, Perryville, Maryville, Festus, Neosho, Hannibal, Ozark and Cape Girardeau. The department was third in starting officer pay.
City manager Mark Massingham has previously said the city wants to be fair to all departments and cannot afford to give across-the-board raises. The city expects to operate in the red in 2018, after several years of deficit spending that have drained general fund reserves.
This is not an indictment of the city administration or city council, Sutton explained.
"We're not trying to take anything away from other departments that have unions, but non-union employees do not receive the same treatment union employees do," Sutton said.
The police department should probably have had a union years ago, he believes.
"We just want to inform the public of the situation," said Hefner.
Members of the department are not asking for anything unreasonable, Sutton said.
"There are other benefits they could extend to us that we've asked for, that would not immediately effect the budget," he said.
These include relaxing a residency requirement and increasing the maximum number of sick leave hours that can be accumulated, the men said.
"We want the city leaders and public to have a good idea of where we're at, so they can make plans for the future," Sutton said.
Priorities
Tough choices may have to be made with the allocations of current resources, if nothing can change, according to Sutton.
The department has become mainly reactive, instead of proactive, because of manpower limitations, said Harris.
Due to a hiring freeze, the department currently has three unfilled patrol officer positions, Sutton wrote in a payroll comparison report requested by Chief Danny Whiteley in March. A records clerk position has also been cut since 2006.
Another three officers will retire in the next eight months, he said.
"This is nearly 15 percent of our police force. This turn over rate will likely continue for the next eight years, as one-third of the department reaches retirement age," Sutton said. "If the city lifted the hiring freeze today, I am afraid the hiring pool we would attract would not be deep enough to provide six acceptable, quality candidates."
The department could be forced to accept officers who were unable to make the cut at departments which can offer better pay and benefits, Sutton said.
Calls up 54 percent
Officers, meanwhile, have seen steep increases in call volume since 2008.
Calls for service were a little more than 36,500 in 2008, compared to more than 56,000 in 2017, according to figures recorded by the department's computer aided dispatch system.
Incidents of child abuse and neglect, child molestation, child pornography, rape/statutory rape and drug overdose more than doubled.
"Interviews with officers of the Patrol Division reveal that they often spend their entire shift responding to calls and taking reports, with little or no time for neighborhood patrols or follow-up investigations," Sutton said in an April department staffing report.
The increased call volume is equal to just under 2,000 hours of work per year, or the equivalent of one full-time officer, he said.
The city of Poplar Buff has a population of about 17,000.
Average daily population based on traffic counts for the city was more than 60,000 when a comprehensive plan was adopted by the city in 2008, well before extensive retail expansion in north Poplar Bluff.
Call volume figures do not include time spent on special assignments, such as parades, extra patrol requests, vacation checks, wellness checks, security for city council meetings and Black River Coliseum events, and other requests.
Benefits
The department has asked for an increase in the maximum sick leave hours employees can accumulate.
Police staff currently have a cap of 900 hours. Members of a fire department union were granted 1,440 hours under a contract negotiated by former city manager Heath Kaplan.
"That would have no financial impact on the budget until an officer retires," Sutton said.
The city could also relax a residency requirement that says members of the department must live in Butler County, the men said. Housing costs have gone up as Poplar Bluff has grown, they said.
A new officer cannot afford the type of home officers once could, Sutton said. Improvements to Highway 67 and Highway 60 mean that employees are better able to get to work, even in inclement weather, he said.
Equipment
The police department has body cameras, mobile computer terminals used in vehicles, handheld radios and vehicle radios that are reaching their end of life, the men said.
Current budgets do not allow for the department to keep up with replacement of this technology, they say, adding this is both an public safety and officer safety matter.
These items are heavily used every day, Sutton said.
"It's the nature of technology, it has to be maintained and replaced regularly," he said.
Up to 25 percent of the mobile computer terminals may be down for repairs at any given time, said Hefner. This allows officers to complete reports and training from their vehicles, remaining deployed in the field rather than in the office, he said. It also allows officers to access important information, such as license plate details and photographs, quickly.
Many of the body cameras have reached the point where the battery life will not last an entire shift, said Sutton. These are being replaced with refurbished units.
"I don't know that the public will allow us to go back to not having the body worn cameras, but I can promise you, the defense attorneys would destroy us in court if we quit using them," he explained.
The department also has approximately 40 mobile vehicle radios and 60 handheld units that will reach end of life in 2018, Hefner said. The manufacturer will quit making parts for these units at that time, he said.
"It's hard to conduct the business of protecting the public without effective communication," Hefner said.
The department and officers are not asking for money the city does not currently have, Sutton said.
"We would like to know there is an acceptable plan moving forward," he said.
The department is among less than 5 percent in the United States to be recognized by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Hefner said. Whiteley was named Top Cop in 2017 by the Missouri Police Chiefs Association, and the department has officers recruited by federal agencies, he continued.
Part of this effort is about securing what the department already has in place, the men said.
"These items have been presented in previous budget proposals, with all due respect, in the interest of public safety and officer safety," Hefner said.