You want a career in law enforcement and await the chance to attend the Finger Lakes Police Academy. The total training period is 36 weeks. If the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office approves the training, it comes at a cost. The County covers your payroll, travel costs and tuition that will add close to $40,000. In return you agree to work for the department for three years.
For the County’s investment it is hoped they have an officer for life in a law enforcement career. Of course, the County, under union contracts, increases pay and the candidate may rise in the ranks to increase the staring pay to $47,000 once you begin Academy. Plus the County, under the contracts, also offers a Tier 6 Health Care plan that continues after retirement.
After 5 years the salary reaches $67,000, plus overtime, due to the yearly longevity portion of the contracts. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office also allows deputies to drive to and from work in patrol cars.
It all sounds like a pretty nice package, until a village, town or out-ofcounty agency ups the ante.
Then comes the news that the police officer has become a “lateral” officer - in our area that means the officer has transferred to another police department and their training and qualifications are accepted.
The Village of Newark starts new officers out of the gate $48,485, with a nice benefits package. If you are already trained and move over (lateral transfer) to the Newark agency, the starting pay for lateral transfers is upped to $61,169 for the first year and jumps to $67,216 the next year of employment. Currently, the Newark Police Union has been working under the old contract for the past year and a half and pay and benefits packages are expected to increase.
It is a somewhat similar situation in the Town of Macedon Police Department.
If an officer opts to move either to the City of Rochester, or one on the suburb Monroe County departments, the pay increase is even higher. There is also the distinct possibility of lateral signing bonus money that can be in the thousands of dollars.
So, the question that surfaces when the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office is undermanned and lateral transfers are a factor, why doesn’t the County simply increase the officer’s pay?
Unfortunately, the answer is not that simple and has been a question for debate for decades.
When Sheriff Barry Virts took control of the agency, there were 198 total employees, today there are 176. On the road patrol side the department is down from a high of 62 officers to the current 41.
The Sheriff opted not to fund any Academy candidates this past year, fearing six open road patrol spots would be filled by the 11 current resource officers if the State cut school funding.
Former Wayne County Undersheriff and current Wayne County Administrator Rick House said he has seen both sides of the issue. “I don’t believe Wayne County, or any rural county will ever be able to compete one-on-one with suburban or city police agencies.” The suburban/city departments often have much greater tax bases to work with, and can afford to pay higher salaries. Although having lower salaries then our suburban neighbors, Wayne County is competitive with comparable counties with a very attractive longevity plan (up to 10%) along with several additional stipends, a take-home car program and top-notch equipment. “In my 35 years with the Sheriff’s Office, I regularly experienced the problem of staffing shortages and keeping high quality deputies on the job – it’s a constant battle that almost all jurisdictions of similar demographic deal with. As soon as we raise salaries
in contracts, the larger agencies also raise theirs. It turns into a bidding war and where does it stop. This is a problem in all areas of our County government and in the private sector as well. The last negotiated contract contained very fair salary/stipend increases and deputies still left for other agencies, sometimes for reasons other than salaries.”
“The County works very hard to keep taxes fair because it has a fiduciary responsibility to our tax payers, especially to the growing number of people who have extreme difficulty or are totally unable to pay their taxes because of the current economic environment. It’s a delicate balance between maintaining quality staff and keeping budgets and tax rates under control. Both contribute to quality of life in Wayne County,” said House. He said he will not comment on upcoming contract negotiations with the deputies; however, the County is well aware of the concerns of deputies leaving and the County will work hard through the negotiation process to deal with the issue and maintain competitive salaries/ benefits with departments from similar demographics. Currently, Ontario, Seneca and Cayuga Counties have the same lateral transfer woes.
