SEQUIM -Police Chief Robert Spinks doesn’t want his station to have a revolving door. So a City Council decision this week to give police officers a 7.3 percent raise retroactive to Jan. 1 should help.
“We want to attract the best candidates and provide the best incentives to grow and retain them as career officers,” said Spinks.
Thanks to a high quality of life in Sequim, “we’re not a training ground for other agencies.”
The chief himself has said he wants to spend the rest of his law enforcement career here.
The raise, however, is merely a cost-of-living increase coupled with a 3 percent “catch-up” to bring Sequim officers’ pay up to that of comparable cities, said City Manager Bill Elliott.
An entry level police officer will now earn $21.03 an hour while a top-step officer will make $24.98 per hour.
Pay for sergeants hasn’t been negotiated yet, Elliott said.
The Police Department should have 21 officers, including the chief and five sergeants, Spinks added.
Only 18 are at work in Sequim now, since two new hires are finishing their academy training.
Sequim’s 2007 budget allocation for the police force totals $2.385 million, with 75 percent going into salaries and wages.
That’s up from $1.994 million spent on police from the 2006 budget.
Spinks initially requested $3.1 million in city funding during 2007, citing dramatic increases in call loads and crime in Sequim.
