Bexar County commissioners unanimously approved long-awaited salary adjustments for new and current deputies to raucous applause on Tuesday.
Individual deputy raises will vary by rank and seniority, but the average pay increase — starting with the next pay period — will be about 9%, officials said.
The agreement will match salaries to “fair market levels” in order to help recruit and retain deputies for patrol and will alleviate understaffing issues at the jail, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said at a press conference.
“You get what you pay for when it comes to law enforcement, and if you don’t treat your law enforcement personnel like they’re top-notch, then they’re gonna go find another job somewhere else that does,” Salazar said.
The adjustment brings salaries “up to a level that’s now commensurate with the strict hiring standards that we have,” he added.
The raises, which bump up most minimum and maximum salary ranges, will cost the county an estimated $9.6 million annually. It’s a figure commissioners will have to keep in mind as this month they begin formulating next year’s budget. Last year’s budget was $2.8 billion.
Part of the agreement will allow the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office to place newly hired deputies directly on patrol, without requiring them to first serve two years at the jail as detention officers through a so-called “straight to the streets” policy. After 34 weeks of training and acquisition of a peace officer’s license, aspiring deputies can skip detention if they prefer.
“In the history of the sheriff’s office … we can’t find a time that anybody was ever able to directly test over into the law enforcement side” without first serving as a detention officer, Salazar said.
Modern workers expect “that flexibility and having more control over how your career path looks,” he said. “[It] makes all the difference in the world.”
The program also creates a path for current detention officers to transition to patrol, but it incentivizes people to remain at the jail by giving them preference for the more competitive patrol jobs in the future if they serve at the jail first.
The new agreement, which provides annual 3% wage increases each year after the initial boost, replaces the remaining 2.5% biennial base pay raises outlined in the current collective bargaining agreement approved by the deputies union and commissioners last year. In exchange for the salary bump and “straight to the streets” program, the union agreed to void a clause in its contract that requires deputies to receive commensurate raises if other county departments receive raises beyond 2.5%.
Last week, the Deputy Sheriff’s Association overwhelmingly approved the amendment to its contract.
“This is huge for us,” said union President Ronald Tooke. “I have had so many people tell me they are not going to quit, they’re not going to retire. They finally feel appreciated.”
Tooke credited Commissioner Grant Moody (Pct. 3) for being the “champion” who “stuck it out” and made sure the compromise was reached.
These pay and policy adjustments will make the sheriff’s office a more competitive employer in the market, Moody said. “That’s ultimately going to improve our public safety, reduce crime and hopefully reduce millions of dollars in overtime at the jail.”
There are about 2,000 deputies in the department, most of whom work in the jail, but the detention side has about 250 vacancies.
Two separate studies of the Bexar County Adult Corrections Facility released last year found that the jail faced dire staffing shortages. For years, the county has relied on overtime hours to adequately staff the jail.
According to Detain Inc.’s jail study commissioned by the sheriff, Bexar County deputies were the lowest paid out of Texas’ six major metropolitan counties. Entry-level pay was nearly 16% and maximum pay was nearly 40% below the average, according to the report.
Lengthy work weeks at the jail have resulted in low morale, said Capt. Lance Spangler, vice president of the union who is a supervisor at the jail. “Some guys will work four days of 16-[hour shifts].”
Some overtime is welcomed by deputies because they get paid extra, but mandatory overtime can affect their mental health, Spangler said. As it stands, he tells new detention officers, “Vacation, birthdays, Christmas — it ain’t gonna happen. Not for the next few years. Don’t even think about it. … If you want to make money, this is the place to make money.”
Hopefully, this agreement — plus the 50 additional patrol officers commissioners have pledged to add next year — will change that speech, and lead to better work-life balance for detention deputies, he said.
“This is something that will help to boost morale, so I’m really excited about that,” said Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores (Pct. 1).
Cadets will see a 7.2% pay increase from $41,964 to $45,000. Officers earning the minimum of that rank will see a 7.2% pay increase, bringing their salaries up to $47,792. Officers who do not work in the jail will still earn a higher minimum salary, $61,500, than their counterparts inside. Chiefs and the sheriff will not receive a wage increase under the agreement.
The San Antonio Police Department pays cadets a base salary of $48,195, according to its recruitment website. A patrol officer earns between $58,452 and $79,620.
Last year, a Bexar County salary study recommended new, higher pay scales for law enforcement, full-time civilian employees, executives, information technology positions, attorneys and uniformed employees. Non-uniformed employees received raises in May.
The recommended increases for law enforcement “weren’t quite fair to everyone when you looked at the details,” so the county made further adjustments, Commissioner Tommy Calvert (Pct. 4) said.
“We also were way behind” in giving deputies higher salaries, Calvert said. While the agreement reached Tuesday is more expensive than the previous contract, the county may save the difference in overtime costs, he said. “I’m not completely sure it’s going to be a budget net loss. …. It may pan out just right for us.”
But the new salaries and policy don’t solve all issues at the 30-year-old jail, which was allocated about $30 million to address maintenance issues, Calvert said.
The county also struggles with supervising the roughly 260 people currently living in the jail who have been found incompetent to stand trial but have not yet been transferred to state hospitals by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
“The state of Texas has abdicated its responsibility to take the folks that it’s supposed to take,” Calvert said, noting the shortage of hospital beds.
The county is looking into ways to expedite the expansion of that capacity, he said, which may include expanding its own mental health facilities.
Before the unanimous vote was cast, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai told the sheriff that he will be closely monitoring the impacts that the pay adjustments and “straight to the streets” policy have on conditions at the jail, deputy recruitment and broader public safety.
“I promised we’re going to make certain changes to this court, and hope that everybody recognizes that this is one example of what I hope to bring,” said Sakai, who took office in January. “This is the sign of many things to come [that will move] Bexar County forward.”
