AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage is proposing that the state increase the salaries of law enforcement agencies, including the Maine State Police and Marine Patrol, as a way to attract and retain more recruits.
The proposed pay hikes will come in the form of a bill before the Legislature this session.
LePage said that there are about 70 job vacancies within the various state law enforcement agencies, including the Maine State Police. The shortage is being caused in part, he said, by the creation of special units that pull troopers from their traditional patrol and enforcement duties.
“The Legislature is constantly putting in these special squads, and they are pulling more state troopers out of the playing field, and right now we are 40 state troopers short, so we got to fill that,” he said.
But LePage said pay also is a major issue. He said the state is having a problem competing for candidates, because many local police departments and sheriffs’ offices in parts of the state are offering higher salaries.
Col. Robert Williams, chief of the Maine State Police, said the pay difference can be dramatic.
“There are parts of the state where starting pay for police officers is sometimes $4-$5 more than the starting pay for troopers,” he said.
The starting pay for a trooper is about $15 per hour.
“There are a number of places where top pay for troopers and officers, sometimes there is a difference of up to $10,000-$12,000,” Williams said.
The average yearly salary for a trooper is about $61,000 per year, top base salary is about $72,000. But Williams said some local police departments and sheriffs’ offices are paying significantly more.
Williams acknowledged that the state has a good retirement program, but so do most law enforcement agencies in the state. And he said a benefit that can’t be realized for 25 years is not the selling point that it once was.
“Today, people look at the bottom line,” he said. “The bottom line is how much money I have in my hand. They aren’t interested in what am I going to get 25 years from now when I retire. They are young. They want immediate gratification, and that is cash in their hand.”
And Williams said local agencies have more flexibility in their pay structures, offering stipends that bolster pay for such things as achieving higher certification from the Criminal Justice Academy or for earning an advanced degree.
The need to increase pay for state law enforcement has bipartisan support in Augusta. State Sen. Jim Hamper, a Republican from Oxford, said it’s similar to the situation that the state faced when trying to recruit correctional officers last year.
“In speaking with people from [Department of Corrections], by bumping the pay rates there, they have been able to fill not all the positions, but they certainly have reduced the number of empty positions,” he said.
And longtime Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee member Stan Gerzofsky, a Democratic senator from Brunswick, said there is support for addressing the salary issue and the officer shortage.
“I think we would like to see those positions filled,” he said. “That’s what we have been asking for on the committee. That’s what we have been asking for in the Legislature, for them to fill those positions. We need those officers on the ground.”
The governor said his proposal will use the savings from the current unfilled positions and those expected from retirements in the months ahead to fund the pay hikes and fill some of the vacancies. He said he is committing to funding the higher salaries going forward in the two-year state budget that he will submit next year.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public Broadcasting Network.