Part-time wages increased by 28.5%
PRINCETON — The Princeton Board of Commissioners recently voted to restructure police department salaries in a bid to recruit officers to fill two of five full-time positions funded by the city.
A vacancy arose last summer when an agent accepted a position in another industry. The second vacancy opened on February 28, 2022 with the retirement of Lt. RC Radford, a 13-year veteran of the department.
“We received no interest in our first vacancy and now, with a second vacancy, we must do everything we can to generate interest in working for the Princeton Police Department,” says the chief of font T. Sutton.
“We are also concerned about the retention of our current employees as the nationwide shortage of law enforcement officers continues,” Chief Sutton added.
As the police department faces a 40% shortage of full-time staff, City Administrator Marla Ashworth studied the salary grids of surrounding communities and made the following recommendations which were immediately implemented. implemented by the municipal council:
- Increase the starting salary of full-time police officers from $37,245 to $45,379, an increase of almost 22% per year
- Increase the current salary of full-time police officers by 20% to 27.5% per year depending on position and experience
- Increase the hourly rate for part-time police officers from $14 to $18, a 28.5% increase
In addition to competitive salaries, new hires earn at least 7 vacation days, 10 sick days, and 16 hours of personal time off per year. Other benefits include 13 paid vacations and employee paid health, dental, life and vision insurance.
In the fiercely competitive market for law enforcement personnel, the City of Princeton is banking on these measures to be sufficient to bring the department back to full strength to protect and serve the citizens of the city.
