11 Investigates EXCLUSIVE: Police recruiting wars

ALLEGHENY COUNTY — With a dramatic decrease in officer applicants nationwide, some police departments are doing all they can to attract candidates.

Onne local departments is giving officers a huge pay raise.

Chief Investigator Rick Earle on the fierce competition to attract and hire officers.

Beginning this January, Allegheny County Sheriff’s deputies will get a big pay raise.

After only two years on the job, they’ll jump to six figures.

Under the current scale, it took them 20 years to reach 100k.

“I think this will help us tremendously in our goal of recruiting,” said Allegheny Co. Sheriff Kevin Kraus.

Kraus pushed hard for the pay hike, which includes a bump in the starting salary from $42, to $58.3.

Kraus told Earle the bump  is desperately needed to compete with other higher paying departments.

“They look at the wage, the starting wage and it scares them off, and quite frankly that’s my main mission, is to not scare them off, to attract good candidates,” said Kraus.

The 177 member department is down 16 deputies, and like other departments nationwide, attracting qualified candidates has been a difficult.

“It’s significantly lesser than it used to be. Very challenging, you know, and people can speculate the reasons why,” said Kraus.

Veteran Pittsburgh Police Officers told Earle that 30 years ago, the convention center downtown would be packed with 6,000 people taking the entrance exam.

These days, they said they’re lucky if they get enough to fill a classroom.

Despite a bump in pay for officers last year, Pittsburgh has been dealing with severe man power issues.

During the past two years, 170 officers have either resigned or retired.

Some moving to higher paying departments.

In a recent letter to the Mayor and Chief of Police, Police Union President Bob Swartzwelder called staffing levels “dangerously low.”

“If I could put a class on 40 and 40 and 40 this year, we could hire 120 officers.  there’s just not enough available applicants to make to have an academy class of that size,” said Chief Larry Scirotto.

A Pittsburgh Police officer with 15 or more years tops out at 91-thousand, according to union president Bob Swartzwelder.

That figure that does not include overtime or longevity pay.

11 investigates wanted to know what other departments are paying.

11 Investigates producer Alex Popichak reached out to every police department in Allegheny County for starting salary data.  About 1/3rd of the departments responded.

Salaries ranged from a high of $105,000 in Brentwood, to a low $51,000 in Homestead.

The city of Pittsburgh came in at $66,000.

“Will money matter?  It is important for the people that are here, but I’m not certain it’s the end all, be all factor for applicants.  It’s a matter of interest in the profession and that’s a national struggle, no matter what department or no matter how much the organization pays,” said Scirotto.

Scirotto also said one of the selling points of a larger department....more opportunities to join specialized units like the Bomb Squad, Swat, or River Rescue.

Still departments across western Pennsylvania are not only facing competition from local departments, but even from out of state.

Just last week, a police recruiting vehicle from Prince George’s county, Maryland was spotted in downtown Pittsburgh parked in Market Square.

A Prince George’s County Police spokesperson said recruitment officers attended a job fair at the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland.

The university confirmed that representatives from 16 law enforcement agencies attended the career fair.

The university has not released a list of those departments in attendance.

According to the Prince George’s County Police website, the department near Washington DC is looking to hire 300 officers.

The department is offering incentives like a take home care, a $10,000 signing bonus, and a hefty pension.

We’re all fishing in the same pond, so it’s competitive among departments of hiring good people,” said Kraus.

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