THE COSTS OF FIGHTING CRIME: JPD to hire 10 officers in 2010

Clark County

Discussion

February 6, 2010

By DAVID A. MANN The News and Tribune Sat Feb 06, 2010, 07:27 PM EST

The Jeffersonville Police Department plans to add 10 officers this year, beefing up its ranks as a large annexation took effect Jan. 1.

Areas east of the old city limits, including Oak Park, are now a part of Jeffersonville. Statutorily, the city has until the end of the year to provide police service to the area, but plans to begin doing so Oct. 1. The department has 64 officers. That number would rise to 74 after the hires take effect.

Police chief Tim Deeringer noted that the number was arrived at by the city’s annexation fiscal plan.

The number of households estimated in that plan has been questioned, called too low in the past. The annexation is expected to raise the city’s population from a census estimate of about 30,000 in 2008 to about 41,000 — though there also has been some deviation in the latter estimate as well. A new count will be made this year by the federal government.

Regardless, the police jobs have attracted considerable interest, officials have said, bringing in about 210 applicants who’ve already passed an initial screening. The hiring process is expected to incur some costs, as the city could pay up to $9,100 — based on the current number of applicants — for officer-hopefuls to take statutorily required skills, ability and observational tests, based on a rate of about $1,300 per 30 applicants.

“I don’t like the costs,” said Jeffersonville City Council president Nathan Samuel.

However, considering that police officers are handling deadly weapons and making critical decisions, the councilman said, “I believe they’re necessary. But they’re very costly. I don’t see a way around it.”

The test will be administered by the Institute For Public Safety Personnel, an Indianapolis-based management firm. Deeringer said the department has been contracting with the company for about 15 years.

The interest is more than the department typically gets when advertising new positions.

“This is a little higher than normal,” said Deeringer, “with the economy, people are out of jobs.”

For the first time, hiring will be done by the Jeffersonville Police Merit Commission, a board created last year to handle such personnel matters, rather than the city administration.

Board attorney Robert Bottorff said there also may be costs associated with promoting officers in the coming years, noting that tests also are required by statute for that process. Promotional testing for someone being moved up to corporal, for example, would costs $3,500 for the first 20 candidates and $35 for each additional candidate.

And those hiring and promotional costs are dwarfed by the costs of keeping officers on the force. Deeringer declined to estimate how the hires would affect the department’s budget, because he didn’t have the numbers in front of him at the time of the interview.

However, an entry-level officer’s base salary is $45,126, according to the department’s most recent Fraternal Order of Police union contract, so the price is at least $451,260 in salaries for the new officers. That figure does not include cost to train, outfit, equip and buy vehicles for the officers, or benefits.

Also, the local FOP and city will negotiate a new contract this year.

The Jeffersonville City Council approved an about $5.33 million budget in October. The hires were anticipated at that time.