ST PAUL, Minn. — Wages for Minnesota State Troopers are doing a better job of keeping par with area police officers, according to a new review from the Office of the Legislative Auditor.
According to the report, state trooper starting pay, at $5,766 dollars per month in 2022, is about 2% above the median starting wage for a group of 34 large police departments. There were 14 departments with higher starting pay and 20 departments with lower pay for new officers.
The state legislature asked the Legislative Auditor to periodically review state patrol pay and compare it to a group of 34 cities, to determine how the state patrol stacks up against other police departments that are competing for the same law enforcement talent pool.
"The law states that the cities we should include for comparison purposes are the ones in the Twin Cities over 25,000 population and then statewide that are 100,000 or more in population," Deputy Legislative Auditor Jodi Rodriguez told KARE 11.
She said work on the new review began last June.
"We looked through all of the contracts for the cities and the state troopers, that are included in the report. We looked through rate sheets for dental insurance, health insurance. We looked through information on their retirement benefits. So, it's a good amount of paper."
The report found that top pay, at $7,743 per month, was 8% below the median in that group of police 34 departments. There were 32 departments with higher top pay.
"Top is that highest wage they can get to after the highest number of years they're required to complete in order to get to that top wage without having a different designation. So, we were looking at non-supervisory police officers and troopers."
The report points out that the amount of time it takes to go from starting pay to top pay can vary quite a bit. For example, troopers reach top pay in only seven years. But at the Inver Grove Heights Police Department, which had the highest top pay in 2022, it takes 20 years to get to that highest level.
Rodriguez noted that local police officers and state troopers both have opportunities to earn supplemental pay, even without becoming supervisors.
"A lot of the police department contracts included supplemental pay for things like being a school resource officer, for doing investigative duties, for being a training officer," she explained.
"If you look at state trooper contracts there’s something called freeway pay, and if the chief patrol officer designates a station as receiving freeway pay then all of the officers within that station would receive at least that bump in salary."
The first review, based on 2019 wage levels, prompted the Minnesota Legislature to raise trooper wages in both 2020 and 2021. It added up to 10.45% wage increase for troopers who had reached the top level, and an 8.45% increase for all other troopers.
Col. Matt Langer, the head of the Minnesota State Patrol, issued this statement in reaction to the new report on 2022 wages:
"The objective, comprehensive, and thorough report completed by the OLA sheds factual light on an important issue when it comes to recruiting and retaining our workforce of State Troopers. The end product will inform important conversations related to salary."
Sargent Mike LeDoux, who heads the Minnesota State Patrol Troopers Association, told KARE 11 the report points to the need for that law enforcement agency to remain competitive.
"We're still not as competitive as we need to be, not necessarily at that starting wage, but at that top wage," LeDoux explained.
"That top wage is important because if you're underpaid while you're working it affects you that way, of course. But then, in retirement, your retirement is based on those earnings as well. You get penalized essentially twice."
LeDoux, who is approaching his 30th anniversary with the Minnesota State Patrol, says he's glad state lawmakers raised trooper pay in recent years. But he said in this day and age it's easy to start lagging behind.
"I think it's reasonable to say that pay, in and of itself, isn't the driving factor why somebody becomes a law enforcement officer, but it does become crucial when you have a limited applicant pool, right? The old law of supply and demand, that you pay a competitive wage."
The new comparison comes at a time when hundreds of law enforcement officers statewide are nearing retirement age, and recruiting is tougher than ever.
"I’m very proud to be a state trooper. The state patrol’s an excellent organization to work for. And we’re hiring. If anyone’s watching this, I hope they apply."
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