Explaining high police salaries could blunt criticism: criminologist

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This article was published 30/06/2016 (3416 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The ability of a Winnipeg police constable to earn as much as the police chief has prompted many Winnipeggers to ask what’s wrong with the pay schedule within the WPS.

But a local criminologist said the unwanted attention could have been avoided had city hall and police brass been less concerned with individual confidentiality and more focused on public accountability.

“If I was the mayor and seeing these headlines, somebody has got to give some sort of explanation,” said Frank Cormier, the criminology/sociology research practicum coordinator at the University of Manitoba; he regularly teaches courses in criminology in the U of M’s sociology program.

“That could blunt a lot of the outrage that is brewing right now over this extremely highly paid constable. When you’re making more than the mayor – that catches people’s eyes.”

The release of the city’s annual financial compensation disclosure report this week revealed that a constable was paid $211,719 in 2015 – making that individual the fourth highest income earner on the city’s payroll, and almost as much as the officer’s boss, Chief Devon Clunis.

Cormier said the pay was not typical for a constable and suggested the individual was probably a veteran officer who retired and took advantage of the benefits, likely cashing out vacation and eligible sick pay.

City officials have taken the position that they cannot discuss or explain the compensation paid to civic employees in the report. A civic spokeswoman said that in addition to salary, employee compensation identified in the report could include "base pay, overtime, shift premiums, acting pay, standby pay, statutory holiday pay, sick pay cash out, and vacation cash out.”

Cormier said that stance is unnecessary as the identities of the police officers are hidden. Unlike other city employees who are identified in the annual report by name and the department where they work, police officers are identified only by a number and their rank — and the numbers are changed from year to year, preventing any tracking of officer compensation.

“I would think it would be in their interest to let people know how that number could have been achieved. It would quell a lot of complaints because people would see it’s a one-time thing,” Cormier said. “If there’s nothing untoward going on, tell us that. It would do a lot to blunt a lot of the criticism that they’re getting. It’s really in their interest to do that.”

The Winnipeg Police Service does have a large number of well-compensated employees. While the report includes each civic employee who received $50,000 or more, the WPS, among all civic departments, has the largest number of employees who earn more than $100,000,

There were 1,942 city employees paid more $100,000 in 2015, with the bulk them — 1,092 — employed with the WPS. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service had 527 paid more than $100,000; water and waste had 46; and public works, 37.

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Police board chairman Coun. Scott Gillingham said the questions raised by the payouts in the report are justified.

“I think when the public sees a number like this, they should ask questions,” Gillingham said. “It could be the sick leave cash out or it could be overtime.”

Gillingham(St. James-Brooklands-Weston) said he’s not familiar with the police officers in the report but added he, too, believes that the big-money constable was likely a veteran member of the WPS who retired, taking advantage of sick pay cash-out provisions.

“Some of those high earners in the police service may have been members who retired,” Gillingham said, adding the sick time cash out can add up to several tens of thousands of dollars.

However, he said those provisions were eliminated from the collective agreement in the late 1990s.

Gillingham said while there is much speculation that overtime is behind the compensation of many police officers, he added that the police board and the police service are working on measures to restrain and reduce overtime.

The WPS has made strides in reducing over-time related to officer court appearances, Gillingham said. Legislative changes which allow officer testimony to be submitted in the form of an affidavit rather than in person will also reduce those costs.

But Gillingham said some units, like homicide and major crimes, do involve a great deal of overtime and cannot be avoided.

“In 2012 a budget management program was started to really deal with over time,” he said. “The police board continues to discuss over time with the chief – the board asks where over time has been occurred, how it’s being managed, what efforts are being made to curtail over time where possible.”

With files from Graeme Bruce

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca