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Article published Jan 21, 2005
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State must address the pay gap for law enforcement officers
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South Carolina is paying its law enforcement officers too
little to reward them for the job they do and to recruit capable people.Gov.
Mark Sanford recognized this in his executive budget when he proposed allocating
$28 million for law enforcement salary increases.And a study done by the Budget
and Control Board at the request of the House and Senate budget committees shows
the Palmetto State is paying less than other states in the region.Entry-level
Highway Patrol troopers earn $8,300 less per year than starting troopers in
other states. The study found similar gaps at the State Law Enforcement
Division, the Natural Resources Department, the Probation, Parole and Pardon
Services Department and the Department of Corrections.Higher ranking officers in
most departments are not as underpaid as beginning law enforcement personnel,
but still the state is underpaying many.Lawmakers should put the state on a fast
track to increasing their pay.We ask a great deal of law enforcement officers.
They should be in good physical shape because they may have to chase subjects or
manually subdue them.They must be mentally sharp and have good judgment.
Competent law enforcement officers must understand the law, the Constitution and
the rights of the people they protect.We expect police officers to juggle and
weigh several competing interests in their minds and to make split-second
judgments about the proper action to take in a crisis. Afterward, we are likely
to subject that on-the-spot decision to lengthy review and analysis, holding the
officer responsible for making the same decisionin an instant that experts took
days or weeks to reach.We want officers who are up to the job. And to get them,
we must be willing to pay them. It is too much to ask officers to handle a
difficult, dangerous and often highly criticized job and attach a substandard
income to those duties.Fairness to the people who protect us as well as the
quality of our justice system and our security demands that we increase the pay
of our state law enforcement personnel.