We applaud Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler’s successful bid to increase his employees’ salaries to compete better with other area agencies.
The Cole County Commission also deserves credit for signing off on the proposal.
As we reported Wednesday, the plan will hike sheriff’s department salaries for the rest of the year, as the sheriff is proposing the same salary increases for next year’s budget.
The starting pay for a starting jailer will go from $29,000 to $30,300 and a starting road deputy would get $35,000-$37,000, effective at the beginning of October.
We agree with the increased pay for two reasons.
First, starting pay — and pay in general — for law enforcement isn’t very high, and pay for sheriff’s deputies is pretty abysmal. That creates a problem not because other sheriff’s departments pay more, but because other law enforcement agencies do.
So some deputies who take positions with Cole County quickly realize they can earn more at agencies such as the Jefferson City Police Department, Capitol Police or the Missouri Highway Patrol. So the sheriff’s department has trouble retaining those employees.
When employees leave, Wheeler said, he has trouble replacing them. When he is able to replace them, there’s a gap in filling the position because they must go through between a three- or four-month training period. Prior to the commission approving the raises this week, Wheeler said he had 10 positions open after people left for other jobs.
All of the department’s 113 authorized employee positions — 89 full time and 24 part time — will be eligible for the raises, expected to cost $31,315 for the remainder of 2018 and $190,000 for 2019.
So it makes sense to increase the starting pay to avoid overtime pay and to ensure the department has the staffing to maintain a safe jail and to be able to adequately patrol and respond to incidents in the county.
That brings us to the second reason we approve of higher pay in the sheriff’s department. The employees, like all in law enforcement, are public servants who work demanding and often dangerous jobs.
Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, law enforcement and other emergency responders have gained a new-found respect among many people in our country. But unfortunately, that hasn’t extended to pay that reflects their dedication and sacrifices.
News Tribune