Part-time police officers in Oconto Falls will receive regular increases in pay beginning Jan. 1, as an incentive to remain with the city.
“We have a very high turnover,” Police Chief Brad Olsen told the City Council on Dec. 8.
Olsen said officers initially go through field training that lasts eights month to a year, but once they complete the training, find a job with another department, earning a higher wage.
“The longest I’ve had one here since they’ve finished field training is six to eight months,” Olsen said.
Since Olsen was hired in October of 2014, three part-time officers have resigned to accept full-time positions in other agencies. Full-time officers earn better wages, are entitled to employee benefits and often qualify for overtime pay.
“Why would they come back to a part-time job doing the same thing for half the money?” Olsen said.
Alderman Mat McDermid supported Olsen’s proposal.
“When we don’t have part-time people available, we have to fill in with full-time, so we pay overtime,” McDermid said.
The council voted unanimously to approve the proposal, effective Jan. 1.
Currently, part-time officers earn $16.66/hour. Under the new proposal, wages would increase $1.25/hour to $17.91/hour upon completion of field training. After that, wages would increase $1.25/hour every six months until employees hit their two-year anniversary. The next $1.25/hour raise would take effect at the three-year mark, bumping the pay to $24.16/hour.
The final increase would occur at five years of employment, capping the wage at $25.41/hour.
Olsen said the revised pay scale provides an incentive for part-time officers to complete their field training quickly and stay with the department afterward.
The current wages for part-time officers follow the pattern of the union contract. The city and police union agreed to a new, two-year deal in the fall in which full-time officers earn a 1.5 percent raise every six months. The part-time base wage follows that, even though the part-timers are not union members and have no say in the bargaining process.
Olsen said it has been common practice to mirror the part-time base wage raise with the union contract.
“Otherwise, 10 years from now the gap between the part-time (employees) and full time would be too large again,” he said. The pay increase approved by the City Council is above and beyond the regular, 1.5 percent raise.
Olsen said the city is on the verge of needing another full-time officer, but the city budget can’t support it. Fifteen years ago, the department operated with six full-time officers and handled about 1,300 calls per year.
“Now we have gone down to five full-time officers and are on pace to have 2,000 calls at the end of 2015,” he said.
Last month, the City Council heard from a resident regarding a drug problem in the city. Olsen said he fears similar complaints will become the norm until the city budget can support more staff. He said he’s hopeful the pay raise will allow the department to keep four or five part-time officers on its staff who have completed the field training and can patrol on their own. The city currently has four part-time officers.
In the future, Olsen anticipates a time when part-time staffers can handle traffic enforcement and drug enforcement in problem areas while a full-time officer can handle other calls.
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