The Selma Police Department’s yearly salary of $31,000 is comparable to other statewide cities its size, but Police Chief Spencer Collier doesn’t believe the risk is worth the reward, especially when Selma officers are responding to exceedingly more calls than those in other similar sized municipalities.

The SPD makes more than a starting Deputy at the Dallas County Sherriff’s department at $30,600. They also earn more than officers in two cities its size, Andalusia ($29,400) and Alexander City ($28,322). Clanton officers and Mobile officers are barely above the SPD at $32,240 and $31,679.43, respectively. A first-year Prattville officer starts out at $37,086.36.

While the pay may be comparable to other similar sized cities, the volume of calls Selma officers respond to annually tell a different story.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics (UCR), officers in Selma responded to 245 and 270 violent crime calls during 2013 and 2014 respectively, which is the last two years’ data is available for. This compares to Prattville (86 and 81), and Alexander City (119 and 81). Property crime, which had the highest number of calls in all three cities, showed Selma with a total of 1,630 and 2,070 in 2013 and 2014, compared to Prattville (1,284 and 1,274) and Alexander City (661 and 716).

When taking into account violent crime, property crime, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft, Selma officers responded to 3,505 and 4,410 calls in 2013 and 2014 respectively in those categories compared to Prattville (2,654 and 2,629) and Alexander City’s (1,453 and 1,521).

“In August, 2017, we were answering approximately 100 calls in a 24-hour cycle,” Collier said. “In September, 2017, we introduced an implemented a new full-time K-9 unit.  Our average call volume ripped to an average of 60 in that time period. It would be hard to access right now because we have such a heavy presence of state and local officers in town.”

Even with the vastly larger number of calls Selma officers face each day, Collier said his officers simply need to earn enough to support their family without having to work around the clock to do so.

“I feel our officers are underpaid,” Collier said. “The base salary should be where they can support their families and not have to work overtime. You’re not going to get rich being an officer, but it’s fulfilling.”

Selma Mayor Darrio Melton always made increase in salaries for the SPD a top priority. In his proposed $22 million budget, Melton had over $5.5 million allotted for the SPD. Over $3.6 million went to officer salaries. And $300,000 of that was for the addition of 10 new officers, another $2,000 for their benefits.

“We feel the SPD needs 70 officers,” Melton said. “I believe the residents need protection. Senior citizens are sleeping on floors because of gunshots. It’s a solution to problems we hear on a daily basis. “These are the tools we need to address those concerns.”

Selma City Councilman Michael Johnson, the chairman of public safety, said it’s always important to support law enforcement.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to keep Selma safe,” Johnson said. “The Selma Police Department is doing the best it can.’’

The SPD has three ways to boost an officer’s paycheck: overtime, pay incentive and education. The SPD currently has four officers with master’s degrees.

Officers with master’s degrees can earn anywhere between 2 ½ and 7 ½ times their salary, based on their years of experience. Certified traffic and traffic homicide officers both earn 60 cents more an hour.

“One of the pleasant things for the police officers is pay incentive, it motivates them to do more,” Collier said.

Collier said SPD officers have taken advantage of the overtime pay scale. According to a document from city hall, $200,000 is budgeted for overtime.

“We offer quite an amount of overtime to our officers,” Collier said. “Their overtime is built in the city budget.”

However, Collier said there’s a negative side to the officers working overtime.

“The double-edged sword is it leads to burnout,” Collier said. “It’s a balance I have to go through. I have to send officers home sometimes. If they work too much, it will run into a liability issue.”

Another downside to the SPD salary is officers paying for their health insurance, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, that comes out of their paychecks a month. For individuals, the coverage cost is $74.94, it’s $366.81 with two people and it’s $664.81 for a family.

The low salary is one of the main reasons Collier fights for the SPD. He disagreed with the residents at various Ward meetings during the summer, criticizing their availability and tactics.

“It’s hard to hear criticism when my men are laying their lives on the line,” Collier said. “It doesn’t minimize complaints, but to get shot at and make $31,000. I’m passionate about our officers.”

The road to becoming a SPD officer is already a tough process. An officer signs up and is sent to the Selma Police Academy to get trained. The SPD pays $2,500 for the officers in the 13-week training program and they get refunded 100 percent.  After the 13 weeks is completed, officers go through a field training program with a Field Training Officer (FTO) from six to 12 weeks, depending on how they progress. Then, it’s onto the SPD.

Collier praised SPD Training and Recruiting Sgt. Marques Neely for leading a successful recruitment drive.

“Marquis Neely has done a fantastic job,” Collier said. “He’s impressive and doing a great job recruiting. He’s recruited officers within the community. That has helped us tremendously. It takes patience, persistence and a veteran willing to take the time to work with them.’’