The Marysville Police Department is looking to institute a new rank within its hierarchy.
Police officials spoke to the city’s finance committee Monday about the creation of a “corporal” rank.
According to Police Chief Floyd Golden, the new title would be a supervisor position within the department. Right now, officers go straight from officer to sergeant. Sergeants are in charge of the department’s shifts.
“We have four sergeants,” Golden said. “Oftentimes, either a sergeant’s on vacation, a sergeant could be sick.”
Previously, the department has handled these situations by having an “officer in charge” position. These are patrol officers chosen to supervise a shift when needed, and they have generally been paid the standard rate for new sergeants.
Golden said the problem with this has been consistency. It hasn’t always been the same officers taking over shifts, and there are various levels of training among those officers.
The department’s proposed fix would have the new corporal position inserted between the ranks of officer and sergeant.
“We would have a corporal and a sergeant assigned to the same shift,” Golden said. “Not always working the same day, but assigned to the same shift, so if the sergeant is off, the corporal would be assigned to the same shift.”
These corporals would be paid about $79,500 per year. Golden said that splits the difference between a standard senior officer’s salary of $71,941 and a senior sergeant’s $86,780.
Golden said last year, the department paid about $10,100 to officers in charge. Promoting three officers to corporals would cost about $22,700 extra per year. Golden noted, though, that since the department would no longer need to pay officers in charge as often, that extra cost would bump down to about $12,600.
He said since the department is already spending around that much, there might as well be some consistency with backup shift leaders.
Finance Director Justin Nahvi said there will be no legislation for the change, since the extra funding can be absorbed by the current year’s budget.
For the new position, Golden would not need to hire any further personnel. Three current officers would be promoted. Golden said there are eleven officers who have expressed interest.
“We’re going to select these three individuals just like we’d select a sergeant,” Golden said. “There will be testing, there will be an assessment … then after that, there would be an interview with myself and the (Human Resources Director Brian Dostanko).”
Golden said the new position would increase accountability and consistency within the department. He said it would also provide a set pool from which to draw sergeant candidates in the future.
While all three committee members were supportive of the new ranks, they expressed some concerns.
Committee member Nevin Taylor asked Dostanko if there could be any friction within the fire and police unions.
Dostanko replied the request doesn’t go against any police union labor management laws.
“We met with the union, and they’re in favor of it,” he said.
Dostanko also said he doesn’t anticipate any controversy with the fire union demanding a similar position, because the fire department already has its rank structure in place.
“I think they’re fine,” he said.
Committee member Mark Reams asked what would happen if both the corporal and sergeant were unable to work their shifts. Golden said they could pay an officer in charge, or offer overtime to another corporal.
“We could still have an officer in charge from time to time,” Golden said.