Published: April 06, 2007 11:13 pm         

Incentive to serve

When considering the quality of a Richmond officer’s compensation package, Richmond City Manager David Evans said it is important to look at the total benefit package.

Some RPD officers’ families agree.

The father of three children, RPD Senior Patrolman Tim Craft pays nearly one-third of his total take-home paycheck into the city’s family health insurance plan. The youngest in the Craft family, 6-year-old Jared, is a special-needs child. The total cost of the Richmond HMO family plan is $1,011.94 each month.

The city pays $255.18 of that cost.

“We are on the lower health plan and it doesn’t cover hardly anything,” said Linda Craft, Tim’s wife. “We couldn’t afford (the HMO plan).”

Even on the minimum family plan, the Craft family is responsible for $410.72 each month. That cost does not include any dental or vision insurance.

“We have even thought about switching to Blue Cross/Blue Shield because it is cheaper than what we pay through the city,” Linda Craft said. “But, where we have a special-needs child, I have spoken to several people at Blue Cross/Blue Shield and they say (autism) is a pre-existing condition. So, we don’t switch just because of that.”

Tim Craft has served the city as a police officer since 1997. With an hourly wage of $16.49, Linda Craft said after taxes, insurance and pension costs, it would take most of the officer’s monthly take-home pay to cover one mortgage payment.

“I know health insurance is a huge concern,” Evans said. “I know it is extremely tough when people have families to support and health insurance is going up. We work with an outstanding local insurance broker. They really try to beat the insurance companies down as hard as we can. I know it’s hard to see because a lot of people don’t see everything that has to go on in the background to try to get these rates where they have to be.”

Richmond Mayor Connie Lawson said she thinks insurance costs are the greatest concern, not only for police officers, but for all city employees and others in the private sector.

“I really believe that benefits right now are the most crucial thing that any business, any city, any county and any state is facing,” Lawson said.

The mayor has begun evaluating ways to combat the growing problem, she said. One of the reasons she is a proponent for consolidating 911 dispatching with the city of Berea and Madison County is because she thinks the city will benefit from it financially.

“I believe in my heart that the city will save about $500,000,” Lawson said. “And in doing that, I have suggested to a couple of the commissioners and to the city manager that hopefully we could create an insurance benefit package. Five hundred thousand dollars would go a long way.”

However, whether or not the governments will consolidate has yet to be determined, because up to now, the issue has been stalled by Richmond commissioners.

Minimizing the hardship

While rising insurance costs are a problem everywhere, some cities have found ways to minimize the hardship of coverage costs on their officers. Ashland Acting Police Chief Rob Ratliff said Ashland officers who are enrolled in the family insurance plan pay about $30 per paycheck for coverage.

“With the rising cost of health care, you have to have a good insurance plan,” Ratliff said. “Most people are more than willing to take less of a salary as long as they have a good insurance plan. But it sounds like (Richmond) officers don’t have either one. I think they are underpaid. Greatly underpaid.”

Patrolman in Richmond are paid a starting salary of $27,528 annually, from which insurance costs are subtracted. A patrolman in Ashland begins at $31,361, a difference of nearly $4,000. In an effort to combat the insurance issue, Ratliff said Ashland has an insurance committee which is comprised of department heads as well as firefighters and police officers.

“We have a representative from each one of these groups,” Ratliff said. “Not just at the top, but also we have input from our officers into our insurance packages. It’s not just us at the top making all the decisions. We think they have a lot of good input. We’re all in it together. I think it is just easier to work with them and use their ideas.”

Insurance packages vary significantly between second-class cities. The city of Newport pays 80 percent of the insurance cost unless the employee opts to waive coverage. If the employee can provide proof that they have insurance through their spouse, they are given an additional $4,000 annually in salary, said Newport Police Chief Robbie Hall. The city also pays for life and dental insurance coverage entirely.

Henderson police officers are responsible for $200 monthly for family insurance coverage, according to the department’s compensation and fringe benefits documents. In Paducah, the city contributes $641 monthly toward the cost of benefits for its police officers. The city of Covington contributes $12,801 a year per employee, with no deductible and without officer contribution to the department’s insurance package, said Covington City Solicitor Frank Warnock. The contribution is more than four times greater than Richmond’s annual insurance contribution.

The value of education

There are several facets to the total benefit package offered to police officers, and like health insurance, the package make-up varies from city to city. Using Kentucky’s open records law, the Richmond Register requested incentive package documents from all 12 second-class cities as well as Lexington and Eastern Kentucky University police agencies. Among the incentives examined were additional pay for a college education, tuition contributions for those furthering their education, financial incentives for a higher level of physical fitness and shift differential.

Also examined were cities who award additional pay for officers trained in specialized areas such as bike patrol, accident reconstruction, field training, special response teams, narcotics or street crimes units. Finally, it included package items such as longevity pay and allowances for uniforms.

The most comprehensive benefit package in Kentucky’s second-class cities was found in Paducah. The city offers incentives in nearly every category examined. Paducah is one of only two second-class cities which provides officers with an incentive based on a completed education. Officers with an associates degree earn an additional $50 per month. A bachelor’s degree is worth an extra $75 per month and those who have achieved their master’s degree earn $100 per month on top of their salaries and other benefits.

Paducah Police Chief Randy Bratton said the city decided several years ago to create an education incentive for two reasons.

“Since I have been here, we have changed the hiring standards to include that you have to have at least 30 hours of college credit before you are eligible to apply, with two exceptions,” Bratton said. “You can have a high school diploma and have military service or have a high school diploma and have sworn law enforcement experience.”

Also, national research and Bratton’s experience have shown that a higher percentage of employees with a college degree decreases the probability for employee issues, he said.

“A college-educated individual compared to a non-college educated individual has more skills and abilities that will most likely help them to succeed at a higher rate,” Bratton said. “That doesn’t mean just because you have a high school diploma does not mean you can’t be a good police officer. But percentage-wise, a college-educated applicant will bring better skills to the department and be less of a disciplinary issue.”

The same philosophy applies to the tuition incentive offered by Paducah’s police department. Those taking undergraduate courses are reimbursed up to $544 per semester, and up to $795 per semester for graduate courses.

Richmond does not offer an educational incentive, but does contribute to the cost of tuition. Evans said the city will pay half the cost of the officer’s college class if it relates to their job in law enforcement. The city’s policy on educational assistance also indicates that prior approval for reimbursement must be made by the city manager based on the city’s availability of funds.

Incentives to serve

At least four cities indicated an incentive for shift differential, which provides more money for those working undesirable shifts. Paducah offers an extra $1 per hour for those working evening and graveyard (midnight) shifts. Radcliff also provides shift differential pay of $1.25 per hour. Covington pays an extra 10 cents per hour for third-shift officers and Bowling green has a scale which ranges from $1,509-$2,340 a year based on the officer’s rank.

Seven of the 12 cities provide incentives for officers who have sought specialized training. Paducah’s department offers an extra $40 per pay period to volunteers for the city’s multiple specialized positions.

“Our emergency response team trains 16 hours in a month in addition to their other duties,” Bratton said. “They go through a rigorous training and fitness program. They are a high-risk unit, and we feel that kind of commitment, dedication and training deserves extra pay. It is the same philosophy with the detectives, bomb unit and those types of things that require extra training and commitment.”

Evans said it was his understanding that field training officers in Richmond were paid an incentive, but the open records response indicated that there was no additional pay for those with specialties. Bratton said a good incentive package is a necessity in a growing department.

“For recruitment and retention, it shows that we have room for advancement, not only in pay, but also in assignments,” Bratton said about his city’s incentives package. “Not everybody is going to make a supervisor, though that is what is commonly thought of when you’re talking about moving up the ladder.

“But there may be other things officers are interested in, not just supervision, but crisis intervention and investigations,” he said. “There are all types of different specialties. We need to provide opportunities for people to use their expertise, to grow and develop within the department. Everybody is good at different things.”

Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.

     

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