THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 1, 1995 TAG: 9506010405
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
More than 200 police officers massed at a Wednesday news conference to lobby for better wages and benefits, saying cities of similar size pay far better than does Virginia Beach.
The officers, and at least 100 family members who attended the morning gathering, also rallied for take-home patrol cars and for a hiring increase to fortify a police force they say is dangerously thin.
Virginia Beach, the safest city of its size in the country, has Hampton Roads' lowest ratio of police to residents: 1.52 officers per 1,000 citizens. In Norfolk, there are 2.66 police per 1,000 residents.
``None of us expect to get rich in law enforcement,'' said Dave Hewes, president of the city's Fraternal Order of Police. ``We just want to be paid fairly and support our families.''
Citing a study the city itself commissioned last year, the presidents of three police organizations said Virginia Beach law-enforcement salaries lag several thousand dollars a year behind regional and national wages.
The starting salary for a Virginia Beach police officer is $23,701 - nearly $5,000 less than rookie officers earn in Fairfax County. Fairfax County recently placed a help-wanted ad in local newspapers to lure recruits.
Police officers in the resort city can eventually earn up to $37,935 - the maximum salary - through raises and promotions to Master Police Officer, although several at the news conference said they worked three and four years without a pay increase.
Organizers of the news conference, held at the police union building on Edwin Drive, didn't ask for specific raises, just yearly increases to approach wages earned by colleagues in similar cities.
Virginia Beach police salaries are at the bottom of the ranges paid by 33 other cities and counties, the study showed. Typically, local police salaries lag $6,000 to $7,000.
The localities contacted for the study range in population from 100,000 to nearly 1 million. Virginia Beach's population in 1993 was 423,387.
In Denver rookie officers earn $4,500 more than their Virginia Beach counterparts. Denver's maximum police salary is more than $3,000 per year higher than Virginia Beach offers.
In Minneapolis, rookies make $4,000 more yearly than do Beach officers, and veterans' top pay is $5,000 higher.
Police pay ``has steadily fallen behind other localities,'' Hewes said. He added that concerns voiced to City Council ``have fallen on deaf ears.''
As proof, Hewes played a videotape of City Council members breaking into frequent laughter during a discussion of whether to spend $500,000 to fund take-home police cars, an issue supported by the officers and police chief, but dismissed by City Council. The officers booed at the conclusion of the videotape.
``This is an example of why we think City Council is not taking these issues seriously,'' Hewes said.
In an unusual show of unity, representatives of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Police Supervisors' Association and the Policemen's Benevolent Association met for a common cause. The organizations claim they represent 90 percent of city officers.
The officers took to task local politicians whose election platforms included support for take-home patrol cars, but who dropped the support after winning their elections.
Organizers said police cars in neighborhoods deter crime, and officers can respond to emergency calls while traveling to and from work. Police cited a study by Hampton that showed take-home patrol cars saved the city several thousand dollars per vehicle.
Hewes said the organizations banded together to ask for public support, and to lobby City Council for more money well in advance of next year's budget.
``We are asking City Council to commit to a definite timetable'' for raises, Hewes said. He added: ``These are genuine concerns, not pork, not perks.'' ILLUSTRATION: CHARLIE MEADS
Staff
Robert Mathieson, president of the Virginia Beach Policemen's
Benevolent Association, speaks Wednesday at a press conference.
David Hewes, left, president of the Virginia Beach Fraternal Order
of Police, and Chip Condon, right, president of the Virginia Beach
Police Supervisors' Association, also spoke at the conference.
POLICE OFFICERS' PAY
Graphic
KEN WRIGHT/Staff
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH POLICE SALARIES STUDY by CNB