Just saw their commercials for the first time this morning. Interesting....

They are also actively recruiting in Little Rock. LRPD is short 70 officers!

Memphis PD is 500 under complement and projected to be 600 below by the end of the year...

I can't fathom what kind of incentives it would take for me to even fleetingly consider working as an LEO in Memphis.

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
I can't fathom what kind of incentives it would take for me to even fleetingly consider working as an LEO in Memphis.

$22 an hour and you get death benefit coverage as well as dental yo. Quit being so picky.

http://www.joinmpd.com/benefits-salary/

If they don't fix salaries it won't help.

quote:

Originally posted by dusty3030:
$22 an hour and you get death benefit coverage as well as dental yo. Quit being so picky.

http://www.joinmpd.com/benefits-salary/

LOL...No thanks!

I'd counter with:
250K signing bonus
250K salary (40 hrs/wk)
fully funded pension after 20 yrs
fully paid family medical/dental
4 weeks vacation to start

Even if they agreed to that I wouldn't really seriously consider it...It's almost like being offered a job in NYC or Chicago - not enough money to make it worth considering for me.

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:

quote:

Originally posted by dusty3030:
$22 an hour and you get death benefit coverage as well as dental yo. Quit being so picky.

http://www.joinmpd.com/benefits-salary/

LOL...No thanks!

I'd counter with:
250K signing bonus
250K salary (40 hrs/wk)
fully funded pension after 20 yrs
fully paid family medical/dental
4 weeks vacation to start

Even if they agreed to that I wouldn't really seriously consider it...It's almost like being offered a job in NYC or Chicago - not enough money to make it worth considering for me.

is cost of living really low there? I pay my mechanics that much, and I'm starting to think the one is half retarded (firing him this week)

Sadly, $22/hour sounds really low to most folks, but that's actually in-line with the national average of just over $21/hour for new police officers.

The starting pay for most Arkansas LE agencies is only ~$17/hour.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Sadly, $22/hour sounds really low to most folks, but that's actually in-line with the national average of just over $21/hour for new police officers.

The starting pay for most Arkansas LE agencies is only ~$17/hour.

Small towns around here start at $10-12 per hour.

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Sadly, $22/hour sounds really low to most folks, but that's actually in-line with the national average of just over $21/hour for new police officers.

The starting pay for most Arkansas LE agencies is only ~$17/hour.

Small towns around here start at $10-12 per hour.

A security guard manning the front gate of the condo complex in Naples, FL is making $14/hour.

Imagine what you could do in a shithole like that if you hired half as many - twice as good.

Instead of 750 crappy / mediocre officers... have 300-400 super officers.

Pay them $150K. Pay them to work out / stay in shape. Train. Seek advance certifications.

I'm talking an entire force of young 25-40 year old ex-Marines, SF, Infantry types. Gung-ho, smart, skilled, predators looking for felons.

Crime would be down 75% within 2 years.

That would be beautiful.

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Never been to Memphis, so can't comment on their situation. But some of the starting salaries mentioned are really sobering. I retired from a large department, and after some time went to work for a much smaller at much lower pay. The smaller Dept., in a much smaller town paid much less, but I thought it would be safer for our kids,the weather was nicer and the commutes much shorter. But I couldn't have afforded to do it if the small town PD pay had been my only income. Officers with families were by all appearances, just scraping by. The smaller Dept. has always had, and continues to have, recruitment and retention issues due to low pay and working conditions. I personally know some excellent officers who lateraled over to other departments, where they were starting at approx. $20K per year more. Can't blame them one bit.

Sig209, Just .02 about recruiting those those young smart skilled Gung-Ho former military, etc. and lowering the crime rate 75% in 2 years. Went to the police academy with some, worked with some, was on police recruiting interview boards for others,etc. Some were very fine officers. The most mentally superior, fastest, strongest officer I know could have been the prototype for the type of officers you suggest.
He lasted about 2 years. You see,he knew he was smarter faster,stronger than about 99% of humans on the planet and his hubris got the best of him. I worked with others with similar attitudes, interviewed others,etc. No, crime rates did not go down. The types of officers you suggest still had to work within the constraints of the Constitution, Law, Policy, Dept. priorities,review boards,community scrutiny and attitudes,etc. FWIW, on and off-duty Gung-Ho has resulted in about as many terminations as anything else I can think of.....

Have they considered robots/drones? The LEOs could be located remotely in a nice part of TN, and have an armed (taser and firearm) virtual presence robot/drone.

Must be a popular tactic.
The Dallas PD pension fund has financial trouble they've been haggling over for some time. San Antonio PD put up billboards and other advertising for their department in Dallas.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig209:
have 300-400 super officers.

With half as many boots on the ground, these "super officers" would be spending all their shift frantically running from call to call, drowning in the petty day-to-day crap like "My little brat won't clean his room" or "This other guy bumped my fender and I demand a report" or "My neighbor cut the grass too far over the property line", instead of being out there hunting felons.

quote:

Originally posted by rock185:
FWIW, on and off-duty Gung-Ho has resulted in about as many terminations as anything else I can think of.....

Truth.

Police officers these days are expected to be better thinkers and communicators than previous generations. Back in the day, the emphasis in police recruiting was on gung-ho ex-grunts with square jaws, hard knuckles, and the ability to take a punch and dish it back. Police work was also rougher work, and had fewer guidelines. Folks getting tuned-up (read: beaten) by the police was the norm, and socially acceptable. Nowadays, the greater emphasis is on intelligence and maturity. Use of force is much more heavily regulated. Civil rights protection and associated liability is a greater concern. In many ways, police today are held to a higher standard than old-school law enforcement officers were.

Teaching a smart and mature recruit to shoot and defend themselves is much easier than teaching a strong and tough recruit to be patient, make good choices, and communicate/de-escalate effectively.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RogueJSK,

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by rock185:
Nowadays, the greater emphasis is on intelligence and maturity. Use of force is much more heavily regulated. Civil rights protection and associated liability is a greater concern. .

I understand that. It sounds good.

My point is - for $12 / hour you will get none of that from the type of applicants who find that level of pay attractive.

Hence we will keep having the same problems within LE and crime will continue to run rampant in de-Policed areas (Detroit, St Louis, Baltimore / DC, Memphis, Chicago, etc)


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Agreed. Higher pay is needed to attract more well-qualified recruits. But the problem won't be solved by simply keeping the same budget and halving the number of officers.

And the good news is that most officers aren't in it to get rich. So the pay, while lower than it should be, isn't so low as to only allow for poor applicants.

At 500 below compliment it doesn't matter if all your officers are ex Delta with degrees in Law and Psychology with minors in Social Work. Officers can't be proactive when they are running from call to call that has been holding for 2 hours. Answering calls doesn't reduce crime. Proactive policing and citizen contacts reduce crime.

We...er...they...need bodies.

I won't go into on a public forum, but there are very real issues that have led to a nearly 25% reduction in force over the last 7 years.

I almost got a job there out of the navy and in 2005 when the housing market was as inflated as it could possibly be, there were 100 pages of houses for sale under 20k.