Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson campaigned on turning around the county’s police department, but the latest contract approved by the county’s police union threatens to put an end to the success Johnson has met with so far.
The contract, approved by the union earlier this month, keeps officers’ pay increase on the same level as other county employees, but that may not be enough to keep attracting new officers while retaining the old in an increasingly competitive field, local union President Vince Canales told The Examiner.
Specific details on the contract could not be released, pending the County Council’s review of the contract, which should happen early next week, Canales said.
Assistant Police Chief Darrin Palmer said there’s more to attracting officers to the county than cash.
“I don’t think the contract gives an increase in the starting salary,” Palmer said. But “officers come here because it’s an exciting, growing and diverse community. … They’re not looking to be rich, they come here for higher purposes.”
Since 2003, the county has added 400 officers as part of Johnson’s plan to add 150 officers each fiscal year, a plan he’s continuing into the next fiscal year, too, spokesman John Erzen said. About 1,500 officers now serve the county’s 850,000 residents.
Economic reality is now setting in, though. Budgets are tightening on all levels of government, and the cash for police departments that was once abundant in the post 9/11 world is now starting to dry up.
This latest contract, months in the making — it was due in July — is comparable to past budgets, Palmer said.
“If you go back through the ups and downs in economic history, this is kind of right in the middle.”
