PUEBLO — An internal survey sent to the Pueblo Police Department last month shows members are becoming frustrated with pay.
Jimmie Quintana, president of the Pueblo Police Union, IBPO Local #537, said he is worried for the future of the department because of poor retention. According to the survey, 58% of respondents said they are planning to leave within the next four years. The top reason for wanting to leave the department was to have a higher salary somewhere else.
"We've always lost officers here and there, but over the past year, we have lost a lot of trained officers to other agencies out of state and in state," said Quintana.
Right now he said the department is down 50 officers. He said when compared to other cities with similar populations, the Pueblo Police Department responds to more calls while paying officers less.
For example, the entry patrol salary for Fort Collins Police is $77,299 while the entry-level salary for Pueblo Police is $58,132, according to data on the survey. In 2022, Pueblo Police responded to over 86% more calls for service than Fort Collins Police.
"I think that's frustrating for a lot of the members, a lot of officers working here. They're saying I can go somewhere else, make more money and not work as hard," said Quintana.
Quintana and the police union presented the results of the survey to the Pueblo City Council during its work session on Monday. Council members agreed that pay within the department could be better, but said reevaluating salaries would mean jumping outside of the next scheduled negotiations in 2024.
"I don't know how we're going to do this because once we set precedents of jumping outside of negotiations, then every union in town is going to want to do that," said Councilmember Regina Maestri during the work session.
Council President Heather Graham said on Monday she is working with city staff to propose an ordinance for a 10% increase in pay for the department. She said she also wants to take a look at implementing a Quartermaster System, which would cover the cost of uniforms for personnel.
Right now Quintana said the city gives officers a uniform allowance, but that normally does not cover the entire cost of uniforms.
"We're the only agency our size where officers have to buy our own uniforms," he said. "The uniform allowance the city gives us maybe buys two uniforms, it doesn't buy boots, it doesn't buy handcuffs, it doesn't buy flashlights."
Pueblo City Council is set to further discuss pay increases for the department during its work session on Monday, May 8th.
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