The Vance County Sheriff’s Office is hiring. There are openings for detention officers at the county detention center, and there are openings for sheriff’s deputies as well. A qualified candidate for a job as a detention officer could earn a starting salary between $33,000 and $35,000.
The City of Henderson also is hiring and a qualified candidate for a police officer job is guaranteed a salary of $42,503. That salary is adjusted upward for candidates with college credits.
These are basic facts easily available in a quick online search. If only it were as easy as a click of the mouse or a few keystrokes to find candidates to fill these jobs.
Vance Sheriff Curtis R. Brame told WIZS News that there are 17 positions available at the local detention center and eight positions available at the sheriff’s office.
Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow says his department loses personnel who get jobs in law enforcement agencies in nearby counties – as well as the N.C. Highway Patrol.
It all boils down to what counties and cities are willing – and able – to pay for qualified personnel.
“We lose people to the N.C. Highway Patrol, Franklin County and to the Wake Forest police department,” Barrow told WIZS News by text message Wednesday. He said one need only look at the pay scale for a state trooper to understand why it turns the heads of employees in other law enforcement agencies. The average salary of a state trooper in North Carolina is about $46,000.
The Town of Wake Forest, for example, has posted on its website that a salary for an officer with no prior sworn law enforcement experience is $50,243. There are salary additions, including an extra 2.5 percent for a candidate with an associate’s degree to 5 percent if a candidate is fluent in Spanish. A new officer also receives an automatic 5 percent increase after six months of employment with the town.
At the Durham County Sheriff’s Office, starting pay a non-BLET certified officer is $34,000, plus incentives. (BLET stands for Basic Law Enforcement Training. Vance-Granville Community College offers BLET classes for those interested in a career in law enforcement.)
That salary jumps to close to $40,000 for those with BLET certification. The Durham Sheriff’s Office has similar salary add-ons as the Wake Forest police department – a 2.5 percent bump each for an associate’s degree, fluent Spanish speaker and honorable discharge from military service and a 5 percent increase for candidates with a bachelor’s degree.
Smaller, more rural communities like Henderson and Vance County face challenges every day from neighboring areas that benefit from being closer to larger, more urban areas.
It’s competition, pure and simple. And a little bit of supply and demand. But without competitive pay packages, demand is probably always going to exceed supply.