When it comes to annual salaries in his department, Petal Police Chief Matthew Hiatt doesn’t expect his $52,500 – or the average $37,395 of his officers – to match up with cities that have the tax base or population of, for example, Hattiesburg.
But it’s a different story when cities smaller than Petal, which has an approximate population of 10,633, are paying their chiefs and officers higher or similar wages. Hiatt addressed the matter at Tuesday’s meeting of the Petal Board of Aldermen, where he proposed a new, higher pay scale for the department.
“I think everyone in this room supports law enforcement, and I think this city does,” Hiatt told board members. “But officers wonder why they do this for $36,000 a year, or why does the chief of the police have this burden of responsibility for $52,500 a year?
“So I want to give you guys some hard facts and some things to start considering today. I feel strongly that some revisions need to take place to make things appropriate.”
Hiatt’s new pay scale would be $67,000 for chief, $60,000 for assistant chief, $54,000 for captain, $50,000 for lieutenant, $45,000 for officer, $40,000 for patrol officer, $41,025 for motorcycle officer, $34,875 for dispatcher and $36,814 for administrative assistant.
In comparison, Holly Springs (population 8,014) pays $61,555 to the chief and $31,200 average to officers; Byram (population 11,545) pays $76,400 to its chief and $30,000 average to its officers; D’Iberville (population 11,426) pays $80,538 to its chief and $34,201 average to its officers; and Cleveland (population 11,279) pays $80,330 to its chief and $34,561 average to its officers.
“What we’re discussing tonight should not be a matter of if you do this; it should be a matter of how soon you do this,” Hiatt told board members. “This is an investment of something critical – times are different, and times have changed.
“We as police officers are under attack now more than ever, period. It’s challenging for an individual – it’s challenging for me – to continue to do this job (at this pay), because it gets difficult.”
Hiatt’s proposal would require an additional $168,800 in salaries to the department’s budget. That number includes $127,000 for base salaries, $22,100 for state retirement, $9,700 for FICA, $7,000 for workman’s compensation and $3,000 for holiday pay.
Hiatt also proposed re-introducing longevity pay to the department and the city, depending on the number of service years employees have. Under that proposal, employees with 5-10 years of service would receive a 2 percent increase to pay; 10-15 years of service would see an increase of 3 percent, 15-20 years would see a 4 percent raise, 20-25 years would get a 5 percent increase, and 25 years or more would warrant a 6 percent increase.
“There are ways to show your appreciation as a government agency, and I think this is one of them,” Hiatt said. “This is just me putting some numbers together, but in my mind and in research I’ve done, these are legitimate numbers that would fall in place.”
Hiatt said although Petal’s pay is comparable to that of law enforcement agencies in Forrest and Lamar counties, those deputies have chances to work extra detail – such as security detail at movie theaters or medical plazas – that Petal officers don’t have the opportunity to do.
“So (other agencies) get to work on their day off, and in doing that, they get to make extra money, and there’s the attraction,” he said. “That’s why we lose officers to other agencies like that.
“So since we don’t have that opportunity as much as other surrounding jurisdictions, we have to do something to compete. We have to invest in the investment that we have right now.”
Mayor Hal Marx said board members would need to try to come up with a plan in future budgets to accommodate Hiatt’s requests.
“I imagine it would need to be a multi-year plan – I don’t anticipate on being able to do all this in one year,” he said “I would think the city might want to, over a two or three year period, work toward getting that in place.
“It’ll be something the board will have to talk about as they move ahead with future budgets.”
