Published on Wednesday, April 27, 2005
in the Panama City News Herald

State police pay puts public at risk

Florida faces a silent law enforcement crisis — one that could affect our roads, our natural resources and our institutions.

This crisis is the result of glaring pay inequities that damage morale and dramatically thin the ranks of state-employed officers.

The problem is called “pay compression.” It’s what happens when starting salaries are raised without a plan in place for also increasing the pay for veteran officers.

Unlike city, county and even federal law enforcement entities, the state does not have an established pay schedule for its officers, so veterans with 10 or more years of experience make nearly the same as entry-level officers.

Low morale and low pay for veterans make state officers ripe for recruitment from municipal law enforcement, which saves a bundle of money — between $60,000 and $80,000 per hire — that would have been spent training recruits. That’s probably why cities and counties can afford to pay officers between 20 and even 80 percent more than they would make with the state.

The best example of how this situation is putting our citizens at risk is the high turnover rates experienced by the Florida Highway Patrol. Today, there are 160 vacancies at the FHP. It’s not that we have trouble filling new positions — it’s that we have trouble retaining experienced officers.

In Manatee County, for example, the local sheriff’s department has been forced to help investigate traffic crashes because there are not enough FHP officers to adequately do the job. Most startling of all, there are fewer than 100 troopers in Miami; in 1986, there were about 240!

The same pay disparity exists for other stateemployed law enforcement officers. These are the men and women who protect our food supply, handle our state’s most dangerous youth, and protect our wildlife from poachers. They deserve better.

It has been easy for lawmakers to overlook our state officers; “state worker” is almost a dirty word in the halls of the Capitol. That has made it politically convenient in the past to ignore these officers and their grievances.

I’m here to tell you we are proud to work for the state of Florida, and we’re tired of being ignored. While we might pay a price for speaking up, we do so because Florida’s citizens and tourists depend on us, and we won’t let them down.

Maybe one reason state law enforcement officers often are taken for granted is because people — including lawmakers — don’t realize that we are sworn officers with arrest power, who train side-by-side with municipal officers. They don’t understand the sacrifices of our colleagues such as FHP Trooper Darryl Lewis Haywood, who gave his life on I-4 in Volusia County while trying to apprehend a reckless driver. They don’t appreciate the work of Brett Starling and John Brechler, two Department of Environmental Protection officers in St. John’s County who in August arrested a man police now say is a serial rapist with more than 20 charges pending against him.

Your state law enforcement officers are people like Detective Greg Gilkey with the State Fire Marshall’s Office in St. Lucie County. Detective Gilkey led a multi-agency investigation that ended in the capture and confession of a serial arsonist who confessed to setting 32 fires.

We are people like Department of Juvenile Justice Youth Custody Officer Andrew Gluck, who, in a recent three-week period in Palm Beach County made 30 arrests and served 48 pickup orders and war rants, for a total of 31 felony counts and 26 mis demeanor counts.

We are worthy of respect and reward for the work we do to protect our citizens and tourists. Yet there are some state officers who require public assistance because they cannot make ends meet with their salaries and the cost of living. This is a slap in the face for those who put their lives on the line to protect and serve.

Fortunately, Gov. Jeb Bush has included funding for FHP raises in his budget recommendations, and the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA), the union that represents state law enforcement, fully supports his efforts. IUPA will work with the legislature to take that recommendation one step further and make sure all state law enforcement officers get their due.

With dramatic increases in the state’s population, state law enforcement faces growing demands. In a post 9-11 world, lawmakers must recognize and reward state law enforcement officers whose work is essential, but too often unnoticed.

The writer is an officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.