During the work session held on Sept. 22 following the regular Holbrook City Council meeting, the majority of the council reacted defensively when Mayor Kathleen Smith suggested that they review any unanticipated changes that may have occurred over the course of the fiscal year. Councilman Tim Dixon went so far as to state the work session should be tabled until the new council members take their seats in December.
To clarify her intent, which was to have a discussion over the current state of affairs, she noted the Holbrook Police Department and its current shortage of officers. “The Holbrook PD at the time (of the budget) was fully staffed, they are no longer fully staffed. They’re just running at a bare minimum right now and it’s been said that if they lose any more (officers) they’re going to have to reach out to the Sheriff’s Office. So, I don’t think it’s appropriate to wait until December or January to discuss that.”
Councilman Earl Kester interjected, stating he agreed with Dixon. “Anything you want to see that has been discussed is in a file someplace and you can have it. We have a strategic plan.”
“So, you feel confident of where we are right now?” Smith asked. “I don’t feel we’re understaffed. If everybody does their job, there’s no problem,” replied Kester.
Vice Mayor Francie Payne appeared to agree. “We’ve provided everything we can (for police officers). We’ve provided increases; a pretty sizable increase. They got bigger raises than the rest of the staff. I know that we can’t compete with Show Low and possibly Winslow.”
City Manager Ted Soltis added to the conversation, “So Winslow did that $76,000 study and we raised all of our salaries up to that level,” he stated, although he did not clarify what that study entailed. “Normally, your right, but due to good fiscal management we were able to,” he added.
Kester stated, “The thing of it is, we have no control over staffing. If officers leave for whatever reason, retirement or they go to another agency, we have no control over that. What can we do as a council to address that? Everything is being addressed. I know that Ted is on top of everything that goes on in this city, including personnel issues. Whether the PD is fully staffed or down a couple of positions. I know they will be filled if they’re down a couple positions.” He then reiterated that he wanted to wait to discuss anything until the new council is on board.
In a review of salaries in the region Holbrook Police Department in fact offers the lowest wages compared to the surrounding departments of Winslow and Snowflake/Taylor police departments and the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office. While specific figures were not available from the Department of Public Safety, they do have the highest starting wages of all law enforcement agencies in the area.
In Holbrook the salary for new officers entering the academy is $40,585, $2,142 below the next higher wage offered by NCSO whose cadets are paid $42,727, WPD offers $42,978, and STPD starts at $45,000.
Once cadets graduate and enter into field officer training, Holbrook officers start at $45,304, which is $4,974 less than the next highest salary which is offered by NCSO at $50,278, STPD offers $50,835 and WPD is $51,088.
After one year of service, HPD bases increases on recommendation by the chief of police and approval of the city manager. Other agencies have one year starting wages, with STPD remaining at $50,842, NCSO is at $57,463 and WPD is at $57,801.
For officers who come to a department from another policing agency the mid-range starting salary at HPD is $53,386, at STPD the rate is based on experience with a $5,000 starting bonus, NCSO starts at $57,463 and WPD starts laterals at $57,801.
HPD does not offer a step program for incremental raises but it does adjust salaries to the Consumer Price Index each year and any other increases are recommendations by the police chief that must be approved by the city manager.
STPD offers a step increase every three years and according to Police Chief Bobby Martin, he is working to increase that to a step each year.
WPD adjusts wages according to CPI each year, with merit raises of up to 2%.
NCSO offers a step scale every two years of 5%. For laterals, deputies earn $57,462 with one to three years of experience, $60,366 with four to six years of experience and $64,353 with seven or more years of experience.
As far as staffing, HPD currently has four officers, two sergeants, a lieutenant and a police chief, all of which are on patrol and work consistent overtime hours, some working 14-hour days causing concerns of safety for officers and the public. Chief Nathan Christensen stated he should have 10 patrol officers, not including the lieutenant or the chief doing patrol, meaning the department is currently short by four officers. He also noted that he anticipates another officer will be leaving the force in the near future.
If Holbrook is unable to increase wages or attract new officers, that could result in the city once again needing to reach out to the NCSO for assistance in covering shifts, meaning the city would be paying those higher wages as well as overtime.
In discussing police department salaries with Winslow Interim City Manager David Coolidge, he stated that for them increasing wages was an easy decision. “When DPS increased their wages, we knew we had to increase ours. It may mean we don’t get some new equipment or vehicles but people, and the safety of people, are our top priority.”
Whether or not Holbrook will make that same determination may not come until after a new council is seated in December.
