Prince William County Confronts Police Retention Problem

Steve Burns
WMAL.com

WOODBRIDGE – (WMAL) Prince William County has had a police retention problem for years, according to a new study, and the Board of Supervisors is saying it is ready to confront the issue.

In a hearing room packed full of police officers, firefighters, and other first responders from the county on Tuesday, a study from the consulting firm PFM presented to the board found starting salaries for the police department were competitive with neighboring jurisdictions, but problems started to arise in looking at the pay scale.

“The officers in the past ten years or so have not moved through this pay range at the same speed that some of their counterparts in other jurisdictions have,” PFM’s Greg Butler told the board. “As a consequence, what you see at certain career junctures, for example, at five, or 10, or 15 years of service, compensation can lag those levels in other jurisdictions.”

The study found Prince William’s police force experiences nearly twice as many resignations each year than neighboring departments see. Those resignations come before retirement age and almost always mean the officer is moving to a better-paying force.

“Many of us have been waiting 11 years for you to fix the problems this study brings to light, and many more of us couldn’t wait any longer and have moved on to other employment,” Colleen Grantham of the Prince William County Police Association told the board. “Those that are left are watching closely to see what the board chooses to do with this information.”

Grantham was joined by dozens of other public safety officers who packed the hearing room. She noted resignations, not retirements, have been the biggest factor in losing officers since fiscal 2013.

“We have all been loyal to this county for 11 years, and have endured no pay raises, pay compression issues, and staffing shortages, all while showing up to work every day and doing the job that we all swore an oath to do for the citizens of Prince William County, and doing it well,” Grantham said. “It’s time for the board to reward that loyalty and correct these compensation issues for public safety employees.”

Officers found a sympathetic ear in most supervisors. Chairman Corey Stewart called it his “number-one priority” to fix the problems. Others also expressed a need for urgency in finding solutions.

“It is heartbreaking to know that we’re losing our people to Fairfax County, and we hear that a lot, and we haven’t done anything about it,” Supervisor Maureen Caddigan said. “We always think we’re going to do better, because we have said public safety, last year and the year before, is our number-one priority.”