“We are falling behind” Dadeville police request pay raise amid resignations

Dadeville police Chief Jonathan Floyd urged city leaders to approve pay raises for the department Tuesday after several police officers recently submitted resignations. 

“I'm just asking for some help because I did have a resignation this morning and I have officers who are in the hiring process with other agencies,” he said during a regularly scheduled city council meeting on September 27. 

Floyd explained that the city will soon be down six police officers, and in response requested a 50 cent raise for police officers with five years of experience or greater, expressing that the pay bump would aid in addressing the staff shortage.  

“If I have an applicant that has five years more experience then I’d like to be able to start them out at 50 cents more than someone straight out of the academy. Just something to help attract somebody,” he said.  

The departures follow Dadeville council members instituting a take-home police vehicle program this summer that city leaders hoped would bolster recruitment and retain police officers. 

Councilman Terry Greer gauged Floyd regarding the impact of that policy within his department. 

“They’re appreciative of that. They haven’t knocked the City of Dadeville once,” Floyd said. “The biggest issue I hear is that there are just more opportunities. They know that they'll have pay increases because of the pay scale and they can see a career path.”

According to Floyd, the city lacks a pay scale for police, which he said would benefit his department as both entry-level and experienced police officers currently earn the same compensation. Floyd compared Dadeville’s compensation to other area police departments, noting that both New Site and Camp Hill recently approved raises for the municipalities police. 

“Departments around us are at 15 percent pay raises. We don’t have a pay scale and we are falling behind,” Floyd said. “I just need something to be able to compete.”

Councilman Tony Wolfe concurred, agreeing that experienced officers deserve additional compensation. 

“I think a person that has five years of experience deserves more than somebody that has just come right out of the academy,” Wolfe said. 

Councilwoman Teneeshia Goodman-Johnson supported greater pay benefits for police, but said the city is strapped as it is.   

“I am never opposed to giving more money to law enforcement,” Goodman-Johnson said. “I am not opposed to offering more money if we had it, but we are scrambling for revenue within the city.”

Goodman-Johnson also noted that other municipalities receive higher police call volume which warrants higher compensation for police officers. 

“This is Mayberry. If you go somewhere else and work, you are going to get more calls,” she said.  

The city council requested input from city attorney Robin Reynolds, who said that the city several years ago had considered conducting a study to determine a pay scale recommendation, but that the task proved costly. 

“It was going to be an expensive proposition and would have made a recommendation based on the existing salaries and what the salary would be based on each job description,” Reynolds said. “This is a pretty extensive process, but if you are wanting to create a pay scale for everyone in the city, that is the only way to do it.”

As an alternative solution, Reynolds also proposed the city’s department heads develop a pay scale. 

“The department heads already know the job qualifications, the working conditions and what the pay scales are now,” he said. 

Ultimately, council members postponed a vote on the matter until the city’s next meeting, with Dadeville leaders requesting further time to discuss the pay scale proposal more extensively.