2008 Woodie Awards
University Police still without contract after six months
Ben Worsley
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: News
After six months of negotiations, university officials and the union representing University Police officers have still not agreed on a new contract for sworn officers.
The plodding negotiations have not affected police services because the contract is automatically extended once it expires, officials said, but University Police are still falling about 18 officers short of the department's 99 positions. Fifteen officers are training in the police academy and will help fill the ranks upon graduation, University Police Spokesman Paul Dillon said.
But in a region that has hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement jurisdictions, the contract police have with the university has made retaining new academy graduates difficult, police have said. University salary data shows entry-level officers start out making $38,000, but if the same officer joined Prince George's County's force, they would make $44,148.
University Police Lt. Efren Diaz, who is president of the local Fraternal Order of Police union, declined to comment on negotiations, citing a confidentiality agreement. He did say that priorities for the contract include more leeway with scheduling and higher pay.
"It's not going as quickly as I'd like, but we are making progress," Diaz said.
Vice President for Administrative Affairs Doug Duncan, who is negotiating the contract on behalf of the university, did not return several calls for comment.
Police have expressed concern that the pay gap between University Police pay and other jurisdictions has led newly graduated officers to leave the force after training. The university pays for cadets' training, but officers have sometimes left for other jurisdictions after working for the department for only a short time.
"Retention is always a major issue we try to work on," Dillon said.
Diaz added that when officers leave, the department must deal with the shortage by bringing in new and inexperienced officers.
"The higher the turnover, the harder it is to keep well-trained officers," Diaz said. "With high turnover, you have a problem of rookies training rookies."
Understaffing that results from retention problems can lead to more overtime work for officers, but Diaz said that overtime issues are not much of a hindrance.
"Rarely do they make someone stay against their will," Diaz said. "People who work overtime usually volunteer."
University Police Sgt. Lisa Payne agreed that overtime is not a major issue for officers.
"It's just a matter of, you have families to come home to," Payne said. "You know you aren't always going to have a typical workday."
Jeffrey Peters, the president of the FOP when the last contract was finished, declined to comment on how long negotiations lasted for the previous contract.
worsleydbk@gmail.com
The plodding negotiations have not affected police services because the contract is automatically extended once it expires, officials said, but University Police are still falling about 18 officers short of the department's 99 positions. Fifteen officers are training in the police academy and will help fill the ranks upon graduation, University Police Spokesman Paul Dillon said.
But in a region that has hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement jurisdictions, the contract police have with the university has made retaining new academy graduates difficult, police have said. University salary data shows entry-level officers start out making $38,000, but if the same officer joined Prince George's County's force, they would make $44,148.
University Police Lt. Efren Diaz, who is president of the local Fraternal Order of Police union, declined to comment on negotiations, citing a confidentiality agreement. He did say that priorities for the contract include more leeway with scheduling and higher pay.
"It's not going as quickly as I'd like, but we are making progress," Diaz said.
Vice President for Administrative Affairs Doug Duncan, who is negotiating the contract on behalf of the university, did not return several calls for comment.
Police have expressed concern that the pay gap between University Police pay and other jurisdictions has led newly graduated officers to leave the force after training. The university pays for cadets' training, but officers have sometimes left for other jurisdictions after working for the department for only a short time.
"Retention is always a major issue we try to work on," Dillon said.
Diaz added that when officers leave, the department must deal with the shortage by bringing in new and inexperienced officers.
"The higher the turnover, the harder it is to keep well-trained officers," Diaz said. "With high turnover, you have a problem of rookies training rookies."
Understaffing that results from retention problems can lead to more overtime work for officers, but Diaz said that overtime issues are not much of a hindrance.
"Rarely do they make someone stay against their will," Diaz said. "People who work overtime usually volunteer."
University Police Sgt. Lisa Payne agreed that overtime is not a major issue for officers.
"It's just a matter of, you have families to come home to," Payne said. "You know you aren't always going to have a typical workday."
Jeffrey Peters, the president of the FOP when the last contract was finished, declined to comment on how long negotiations lasted for the previous contract.
worsleydbk@gmail.com
Submit a letter to the editor or post a comment below.
Be the first to comment on this story