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Friday, August 31, 2012

It's About Time Ireton Followed A True Leader

Duncan, Ireton Submit $400,000 Plan To Address Retention And Recruitment For Salisbury Police Department

Mayor James Ireton, Jr. is pleased to announce that, working in conjunction with Salisbury Police Chief Barbara Duncan, a preliminary plan to address retention and recruitment at Salisbury Police Department has been forwarded to the Salisbury City Council for their consideration at the September 4, 2012 work session at 6:15 PM at City Hall.

“Chief Barbara Duncan has done an exhaustive study of the issues of retention and recruitment and has made these recommendations to increase compensation to our rank and file, on the street officers. This plan will cost approximately $400,000 for 60 SPD officers – and it will be money well spent for Salisbury. The success of our Safe Streets Coalition and our return to community policing also has to be supported by compensation that is competitive with other jurisdictions. We are ready to answer questions from the City Council and look forward to addressing this issue quickly.” said Mayor Ireton.

“Over the past 4 years Salisbury Police Officers have worked tirelessly with allied agencies to address the issue of violent crime in our city, and that effort has started to pay off. As I approach my 2 year mark as Chief, and as we approach the 4th year in a row without an increase in compensation, I have worked with command staff to draft a proposal for an adjusted pay scale for SPD’s rank and file officers. Over the recent months the Salisbury Police Department has lost four seasoned officers to area law enforcement agencies and one officer to another profession for better pay and a lesser workload. In large measure this activity is due to the combination of a very high workload and comparatively low salary scale. This proposal, with approval by Mayor Ireton, is being drafted for the Salisbury City Council, in an effort to retain productive and quality law enforcement officers, invest in the future of the city and reduce liability inherently associated with the revolving door style of the continuous new recruit training cycle.” said Chief Duncan.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Joe:

Please put the qi-bosh on this BS.

SPD has been money-coddled for years and got the Leops under Barrie T.

Half of them would not last 2 days at Parris Island (been there - done that).

Anonymous said...

only thing they have is those who cant make state trooper

Anonymous said...

Half of them would not last 2 days at Parris Island (been there - done that).

August 31, 2012 7:38 PM

Meaning?

Anonymous said...

Looks like he means they (LEOPS)are soft and incompetent pretending to be real LEO's.

Anonymous said...

salisbury police officers are over worked and underpaid.thats why most of them dont seem to be the "cream" of the crop.i could probably fast walk and outrun half their police force.do they secerve more pay?absolutely,but they need to raise their standards a little.you couldnt pay me enough to work for spd.

Anonymous said...

Joe hear is a good youtube video clip of Clint Eastwood at the RNC convention if you want to post it. Good clarity and very funny.

http://youtu.be/yoqKdWY692k

Anonymous said...

More cops is always good if done right and fair. Dont forget to remind the Docs that they have a moral code to live up to as well. No-Oxys. Far as the chief, sexy as hell. She is a tiger inside. Sexy as hell.

Anonymous said...

Chemistry is very dangerous. She is a rootin tootin cow girl deep down inside.

Anonymous said...

Salisbury needs a slogin. How bout? No more Oxys, Not here,No more. I never ate one but I have the wake of destruction they leave behind. NO More.

Anonymous said...

Stop the H, you have to. Its that important.

Anonymous said...

Your town is drowning in drugs. Its that simple.

Anonymous said...

In case some of you dont know it yet, your in a war. Wake up.

Anonymous said...

I hold out no more hope for Salisbury then I do for humanity itself. Its self destructive. Most of it anyway.

Anonymous said...

It's like all they know how to do is spend other people's money.

Anonymous said...

Please tell the Chief that Salisbury is not New York.

Anonymous said...

weirdo

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm , a two year study?
Why in the hell do these people have to do this kind of crap to make a decision?
Why did it take 2 years to find out that:
1. officers are underpaid
2. officers are over-worked
3. officers are out of shape.
4. Mmm election time is comming , we better get on the ball!

Too little Too late Ireton and Duncan!!
Both of you need to go!

Look at the daily sheriffs report , most of the calls are already responded by the county!
Duncan couldn't handle a boy scout troop.

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:30 or 12:41, do you think she screams when she has the big "O"?

Anonymous said...

Not one of these comments makes any sense. Not one!

Anonymous said...

My best friend and I were just talking about this yesterday. How the fire department is handed everything and we are losing our police officers left and right.

Anonymous said...

Not sure at this point if Duncan can handle the job.

Anonymous said...

Look at the daily sheriffs report , most of the calls are already responded by the county!

Gee, you think being the sheriff is a county cop has anything to do with that?

Not one of these comments makes any sense. Not one!

September 1, 2012 8:20 AM

Pretty much

Anonymous said...

Some of them need to retrained with that money.

Anonymous said...

Joe what is your take on all this? Do they need raises or do we need more officers?

Anonymous said...

Some f these comments are so petty and unprofessional. Salisbury has had a great department. Duncan inherited a mess thanks to Tilghman and Dunn, mostly, not to mention Alan Webster. She has reorganized for efficency, but that only gets you but so far. Everyone knows that for years the Mayors of Salisbury have FAILED to keep the police pay competative. Over the years it has taken a real toll on the department and its reputation as the best officers were often recruited by other agencies. Duncan has taken a huge risk in bringing this forward. You could hear Ireton screaming from the elevator at the GOB and we all know that he is very vendictive.

JoeAlbero said...

anonymous 9:33, I'm going to refrain from any detailed comment on this right now until I hear Ireton and Duncans proposal on Tuesday.

I see a perfect storm since the Fire Department grant last week, how about you?

Are we looking at another tax increase for Salisbury? What about the rest of the employees in the City? Is this why Ireton refused to answer Debbie Campbell's unaudited question last week?

Let's sit back and see what happens Tuesday.

Anonymous said...

This is another set up for Ireton to pick a fight with Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen. He is putting Debbie and Terry on the spot to be the bad guy and/or to spend money. If anyone doesn't see this they are foolish. How convenient right before an election. Ireton must go and he can take Pick, Chambers, Duncan, Gardner, Hoppes, Tull and Holland with him.

Anonymous said...

The last city employees to get raises were police! Where is the love for the people that pick up your trash, safe guard your water, deal with your poop!?!

Anonymous said...

As former mayor tighlman did with Colbourne Dykes (former chief of Salisbury police), her, trying to run "HIS" department! Dykes refused to let that happen because he was a man of principal. Ireton does the exact same with chief Duncan.

The city council majority selected chief Duncan, so it's Ireton's job to soil her legacy. Boy Politics has soiled our whole city, and his own pants.

Anonymous said...

Joe:

How about doing a survey of police salary levels in other towns -- OC, Fruitland, Cambridge, etc. (not the State Police).

Anonymous said...

No other local police department has gotten a pay raise either. Why do people always assume money is the issue?

JoeAlbero said...

anonymous 3:21, that's not true. The Sheriff's Department and ALL County Employees got a 3% raise this year.

Anonymous said...

1:18 PM

Dykes wasn't as great as some of you try to make him out to be.

Anonymous said...

I don't care Duncan, but she is one step a better leader than Cheef Chubby over there at the fire department.

Anonymous said...

Joe, when you are elected mayor, why don't you turn down the salary and have the council earmark it for the SPD?

Anonymous said...

Well for all you nay sayers the city police handle seven times the calls for service the County Sheriff Office does. The handle ten times the calls the State Police handle. No offense to any Trooper out there but stick to writing tickets. That is what you are good at. So many people put the State Police on a pedistal and they do not know the the first thing about true crime statistics in the state of Maryland. The State Police are NOT the highest paid enforcement unit in the state. So please do not use the MSP pay scale. They are recuiting from as far away as Fla. because no one wants to become a Trooper in this state. They have not had a decent raise in ten years. They are losing Troopers to the State of Delaware and Penn. They have issues of their own.

The city police are way under paid. The Sheriff's Office has sub standard disability and retirement. One city cop in the last six years has left the city for Wicomico. The Sheriff's Office has three in the academy right now. Why no laterals ???? Things are not so great there right now eihter.

I agree SPD needs a better pay scale. The seasoned officers that left should have been interviewed by the city Human Resources Division they might have gotten a clue as to why officers are leaving. That goes for the county as well. The policy clearly states an exit interview will be conducted. I know this does not happen in the city or the county. THEY DO NOT CARE. That is the bottom line they do not give a crap unless it directly affects them. What they do not understand it does. The quality of the departments depends on HR to do the job. It does away with rumor. It points to the facts. That is why the exit interview process was established.

Poeple wonder why collective bargaining came about. It was answered in Joe's post. The truth does not make it to those who can change things. The leadership is happy getting paid the big bucks and keep things off the radar.

To S.P.D. you are an awesome department. It takes courage and integrity to do what you do. Keep up the fight for a better working enviroment. The majority of the poster on here do not have the jimmies to do what you do. As for the Jar Head that made that comment you may have made it through P.I. but that does not mean you are not a convicted felon and could not be an officer if you wanted to. No doubt about it. It is tough to be a Marine but to be a cop your back ground has to be clean. You have to be able to do more than combat. You have to be able to police the public.

Poeple things are getting worse. The police officers you hire and maintain are going to be the front line of defense. Quality pay and benefits equals quality applicants. It is just that simple.

Anonymous said...

1:23
Please define "handle". They may make a report they might show up but they they don't seem to solve or complete any cases. We have had to deal with them twice and neither time they did anything to help us. You call and never get a return call. You try to talk to someone else and they tell you to leave a message for this one or that one....but nothing ever gets solved. That is the reason many people are fed up with the police. INNNOCENT people are getting taken advantage of by crooks and the police do squat even after you give them all the information they need to do something about it.
They may get more calls then others but they do not "handle" or follow through with them. They get pushed aside.