We have to be competitive with wages and benefits for our City employees.
The Benicia Police Chief’s earnings is about $200K per year ($185K in 2012) plus benefits (health care and 58K PERS contribution). For a city of less than 30,000 that seems very reasonable, even generous.
Vallejo is about 120,000; is a city one fourth the size expected to compete against the salary level of a city that size?
I would expect that the Vallejo position is also one with a higher level of challenges and difficulties, thus justifying higher compensation.
It would not be a surprise to learn that there were other reasons besides compensation for this move.
We have to be competitive with wages and benefits for our City employees.
The Benicia Police Chief’s earnings is about $200K per year ($185K in 2012) plus benefits (health care and 58K PERS contribution). For a city of less than 30,000 that seems very reasonable, even generous.
Vallejo is about 120,000; is a city one fourth the size expected to compete against the salary level of a city that size?
I would expect that the Vallejo position is also one with a higher level of challenges and difficulties, thus justifying higher compensation.
It would not be a surprise to learn that there were other reasons besides compensation for this move.
Dennis you are correct. Why would not someone want to advance their career to a bigger position. That is what it is all about. For the size of the city and the revenue the city recieves the employees are very competitivly compensated. Yes there is some movement to bigger and better jobs. We all have done that in our careers. Believe me folks will be standing in line to be Police Chief of Benicia. The city will not have a problem filling the position. I personally hope it is filled from within. By the way many residents think the city employees are over paid. I do not support that thinking. We have the best of the best in our city employees. They deserve and earn every amount they are paid. We need to start to appreciate what we have. How many cities will look after your home when you are gone for a few weeks. I saw it happen first hand with my neighbors. The police came by and walked the property to check if everything was OK. Thank you Benicia Police Dept and Brad our city manager. Good work We are in good hands..
Perhaps Benicia can pay an incoming chief less, and save up for an armored personnel carrier, tear gas, military body armor, etc. It’s the new fad of police departments nationwide.
A deeper more troublesome look at policing in America for our appointed and elected officials and our new police chief to seriously contemplate…
“The Militarization of U.S. Police: Finally Dragged Into the Light by the Horrors of Ferguson”
“The intensive militarization of America’s police forces is a serious menace about which a small number of people have been loudly warning for years, with little attention or traction. In a 2007 paper on “the blurring distinctions between the police and military institutions and between war and law enforcement,” the criminal justice professor Peter Kraska defined “police militarization” as “the process whereby civilian police increasingly draw from, and pattern themselves around, the tenets of militarism and the military model.”
“The best and most comprehensive account of the dangers of police militarization is the 2013 book by the libertarian Washington Post journalist Radley Balko, entitled “Rise of the Warrior Cops: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces.” Balko, who has devoted his career to documenting and battling the worst abuses of the U.S. criminal justice system, traces the history and underlying mentality that has given rise to all of this: the “law-and-order” obsessions that grew out of the social instability of the 1960s, the War on Drugs that has made law enforcement agencies view Americans as an enemy population, the Reagan-era “War on Poverty” (which was more aptly described as a war on America’s poor), the aggressive Clinton-era expansions of domestic policing, all topped off by the massively funded, rights-destroying, post-9/11 security state of the Bush and Obama years. All of this, he documents, has infused America’s police forces with “a creeping battlefield mentality.”
A deeper more troublesome look at policing in America for our appointed and elected officials and our new police chief to seriously contemplate…
From Boston to Ferguson: Have We Reached a Tipping Point in the Police State?
“As journalist Benjamin Carlson points out, “In today’s Mayberry, Andy Griffith and Barney Fife could be using grenade launchers and a tank to keep the peace.” This is largely owing to the increasing arsenal of weapons available to police units, the changing image of the police within communities, and the growing idea that the police can and should use any means necessary to maintain order.”
Ken Paulk says
A loss for our City. We have to be competitive with wages and benefits for our City employees.
DDL says
We have to be competitive with wages and benefits for our City employees.
The Benicia Police Chief’s earnings is about $200K per year ($185K in 2012) plus benefits (health care and 58K PERS contribution). For a city of less than 30,000 that seems very reasonable, even generous.
Vallejo is about 120,000; is a city one fourth the size expected to compete against the salary level of a city that size?
I would expect that the Vallejo position is also one with a higher level of challenges and difficulties, thus justifying higher compensation.
It would not be a surprise to learn that there were other reasons besides compensation for this move.
DDL says
We have to be competitive with wages and benefits for our City employees.
The Benicia Police Chief’s earnings is about $200K per year ($185K in 2012) plus benefits (health care and 58K PERS contribution). For a city of less than 30,000 that seems very reasonable, even generous.
Vallejo is about 120,000; is a city one fourth the size expected to compete against the salary level of a city that size?
I would expect that the Vallejo position is also one with a higher level of challenges and difficulties, thus justifying higher compensation.
It would not be a surprise to learn that there were other reasons besides compensation for this move.
Bob Livesay says
Dennis you are correct. Why would not someone want to advance their career to a bigger position. That is what it is all about. For the size of the city and the revenue the city recieves the employees are very competitivly compensated. Yes there is some movement to bigger and better jobs. We all have done that in our careers. Believe me folks will be standing in line to be Police Chief of Benicia. The city will not have a problem filling the position. I personally hope it is filled from within. By the way many residents think the city employees are over paid. I do not support that thinking. We have the best of the best in our city employees. They deserve and earn every amount they are paid. We need to start to appreciate what we have. How many cities will look after your home when you are gone for a few weeks. I saw it happen first hand with my neighbors. The police came by and walked the property to check if everything was OK. Thank you Benicia Police Dept and Brad our city manager. Good work We are in good hands..
Thomas Petersen says
Perhaps Benicia can pay an incoming chief less, and save up for an armored personnel carrier, tear gas, military body armor, etc. It’s the new fad of police departments nationwide.
Thomas Petersen says
And, away we go! I comment and they follow like windup soldiers.
Will Gregory says
Beyond Andrew Bidou—-
A deeper more troublesome look at policing in America for our appointed and elected officials and our new police chief to seriously contemplate…
“The Militarization of U.S. Police: Finally Dragged Into the Light by the Horrors of Ferguson”
“The intensive militarization of America’s police forces is a serious menace about which a small number of people have been loudly warning for years, with little attention or traction. In a 2007 paper on “the blurring distinctions between the police and military institutions and between war and law enforcement,” the criminal justice professor Peter Kraska defined “police militarization” as “the process whereby civilian police increasingly draw from, and pattern themselves around, the tenets of militarism and the military model.”
“The best and most comprehensive account of the dangers of police militarization is the 2013 book by the libertarian Washington Post journalist Radley Balko, entitled “Rise of the Warrior Cops: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces.” Balko, who has devoted his career to documenting and battling the worst abuses of the U.S. criminal justice system, traces the history and underlying mentality that has given rise to all of this: the “law-and-order” obsessions that grew out of the social instability of the 1960s, the War on Drugs that has made law enforcement agencies view Americans as an enemy population, the Reagan-era “War on Poverty” (which was more aptly described as a war on America’s poor), the aggressive Clinton-era expansions of domestic policing, all topped off by the massively funded, rights-destroying, post-9/11 security state of the Bush and Obama years. All of this, he documents, has infused America’s police forces with “a creeping battlefield mentality.”
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/08/14/militarization-u-s-police-dragged-light-horrors-ferguson/
Bob Livesay says
Where needed I accept it.
Will Gregory says
Beyond Andrew Bidou—-
Is America a police state?
A deeper more troublesome look at policing in America for our appointed and elected officials and our new police chief to seriously contemplate…
From Boston to Ferguson: Have We Reached a Tipping Point in the Police State?
“As journalist Benjamin Carlson points out, “In today’s Mayberry, Andy Griffith and Barney Fife could be using grenade launchers and a tank to keep the peace.” This is largely owing to the increasing arsenal of weapons available to police units, the changing image of the police within communities, and the growing idea that the police can and should use any means necessary to maintain order.”
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/from_boston_to_ferguson_have_we_reached_a_tipping_point_in_the_police_
Bob Livesay says
Benicia needs none of that. But there are many cities that do. I will not name the cvities. But I do believe anyone can figure it out. Bad comment
Yeah Right says
Maybe the city manager can increase his housing allowance with the savings!
Thomas Petersen says
I hear there is a chief in the Midwest that may be looking for a new job soon.
Bob Livesay says
it appears we have some very qualified people that are making comments. So I guess they will use their expierence and apply for the job.