Dear Editor, In response to the recent article in the Summerville Journal Scene questioning the pay of Summerville police officers, I feel I must set the record straight. As I have mentioned before I have some friends within the department and have a special interest as I am a victim of crime. There were a few mistakes in the article, but I do not blame the SJS. They simply report what is quoted to them by Town Hall. Town Hall lied to the SJS, and therefore the citizens of Summerville about the starting pay of officers. I call this a lie and not a mistake because of the obvious intent to deceive. It is not as much the lie as where the numbers came from that troubles me. The quoted salary includes a raise that Town Hall decided not to implement last year. This is the same year that the Town Administrator, his brother in law computer technician, and his secretary all received substantial raises. They claim some raises were justified because of completing education but it has been in the policy manual of the police department for several years that they get an education incentive. This includes additional pay for college education and tuition reimbursement upon graduation. It is in the policy manual, but Town Hall decided not to fund it. Wow, what a lawsuit? I guess only people in Town Hall need an education. I realize that in this economy it may not be prudent to cry about not receiving a raise, but again, it is the lies that turn my stomach. The article also used outdated census numbers that are far from accurate. The current population is nearing 45,000, not the 23,752 reported, thus making the comparison with Anderson pointless. Aside from the lies, let’s get into the meat of the article. The original article addressed the changing of officers from a 4 week pay period to a 2 week pay period. The examples cited by the chief fairly addressed the need for the change but what was not mentioned should be reported. To receive a full paycheck officers need to work 160 hours every 4 weeks (40 per week). This is fair and in line with every business. But, in order to receive any additional pay, not just overtime hours, officers must work 172+ hours every 4 weeks. In other words, for the first 11 hours of overtime each officer works every pay period, the officer receives NO additional pay. On hour 12, the officer receives 1 hour overtime pay. Eleven hours of no pay dedicated to the town every pay period. Would you do this for your employer? I love my job, but I wouldn’t. For those of you who receive the SJS in print only I encourage you to also read the website. It includes reader comments on each article. As in this case, the story was what was behind the story. As addressed in the reader comments (surely some of them by SPD officers) the starting pay is not the issue. Although somewhat lower than neighboring agencies, it is not the problem. What is out of line is there is no way to advance above base pay. Every officer is at the minimum pay. There is no longevity pay and cost of living raises happen only every few years when Town Hall decides it’s necessary, and they are only pennies on the dollar. Even then they are given to everyone regardless of time on the job or quality of work. There are experienced officers that have been with the town nearly ten years and are making the same as officers who were hired last month! The department doesn’t have trouble hiring officers; it just has trouble keeping the good ones. I don’t know about you, but when I need a cop, I want the good one. Let’s stop giving the good ones to our neighbors.
The article also mentioned the Anderson Police Department as a comparison. Addressed in the reader comments was the difference in median home price in Anderson compared to Summerville. The price in Anderson is $93,983 and Summerville is $154,954. A fair comparison, you decide. Let’s go further. Anderson, with its 26,000 residents has 91 police officers. Summerville, with its 45,000 population has 80 officers. 2.5 officers per 1000 citizens is the national average for a municipality. Mt Pleasant even has the 2.5 rule written into town code. So what is 2.5 per 45,000? 113 officers. We are 33 officers short of average. Yes, contrary to popular belief, we are far below average for number of police officers per capita. Does being below average contribute to more crime? Yes. Here are the numbers. According the SPD’s website the calls for service (crimes) for 2005 were 62,970. 2006 was 74,235. 2007 was 89,704 and 2008 was 125,266. Yes the crime rate doubled from 2005 to 2008. Is below average okay? Not when I am a victim! To recap, Town Hall lied about the salary and did nothing to correct the inaccurate census numbers. Are they trying to give the impression that Summerville officers don’t work in a real city so they don’t deserve real pay? I think they do.