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USF, Its Police Hit Salary Impasse

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By ADAM EMERSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 21, 2007

TAMPA - There's no disagreement at the University of South Florida that low salaries are making it difficult to fully staff its police department.

How high salaries should go, however, is a contention that on Thursday prompted the USF administration to declare that salary negotiations with the police union are at an impasse.

Unless the issue is resolved, an independent consultant warned this month, the police department likely will remain woefully understaffed.

For months, the two sides have been mired in often testy negotiations over salaries. Union officials have argued that lower pay created an exodus of trained officers seeking more money with the city and county, as well as a dearth of new recruits.

A report drafted by a former Philadelphia police commissioner, at USF's request, called the department's problems with hiring and keeping police "immediate and growing," brought on partly by a "non-competitive compensation package."

University administrators say they have a good salary offer on the table. Union negotiators disagree.

Administrators said they declared impasse after union representatives canceled a collective bargaining session scheduled on Dec. 14, and didn't reschedule.

"It was clear we were going nowhere," USF spokesman Ken Gullette said.

One union negotiator, though, said he was confused by the university's move Thursday.

The union canceled the meeting after its request for public records went unfulfilled, police Sgt. Mike Klingebiel said. Negotiators sought the just-completed consultant's report, along with the university's contract with a private security firm, whose services may cost USF $200,000 this fiscal year.

"We though it was a simple request," Klingebiel said.

Without a fully staffed police department, the report warns that the university will be stressed to patrol special events and protect the anticipated growth of students on its Tampa campus.

The university police department employs 42 sworn officers, though it has the budget for 49.

"Staffing to this level requires the officers to work significant overtime and sometimes necessitates supervisors to work as patrol officers," wrote the consultant, Tom Seamon, president of Hallcrest Systems Inc. and a former Philadelphia deputy police commissioner. USF paid Seamon $13,000 for his work.

Gullette said the university hired the consultant because "we wanted an objective assessment in the wake of Virginia Tech to take an overall view of the campus."

"During union negotiations, emotions can take over the debate," he said Thursday.

Police union officials, however, said their trouble recruiting and high officer turnover has been clear for years. A starting salary at the university police department is $35,041. A rookie deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office can earn $39,115. The starting salary with Tampa police is about $42,000.

The university administration said its good offer includes raising the starting salary to $38,000. But even if the starting salary increases, officers with several years of experience won't be making much more than rookies under the administration's proposal, said Klingebiel.

The union wants a more generous step plan than what the administration is proposing. Keeping senior officers is getting harder, Klingebiel said.

Now that the administration has declared an impasse, the two sides must agree on a magistrate who will work to break the stalemate.

Even though the union's contract expired in July, state law prohibits its members from striking.

The administration and the union could each agree to the magistrate's recommendations. If they don't, the university's Board of Trustees will decide the issue, Gullette said.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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