Recently I read an article about the Cincinnati Police Chief receiving a pay rise. The article indicated the increase was granted following his review, which was very good. Congratulations to the Chief for a good review. It was reported that the Chief was granted a three percent pay raise. Now I don’t intend to bring up the fact that he has worked in the Cincinnati Police Department less than any other sworn member but is the only one who received a pay raise. I have no intentions of making any comparisons of any kind. I think I covered those bases last week with the article regarding Milton Dohoney’s pay raise.
The point of this article is that I am having a difficult time understanding the justification of granting a pay raise because crime is down. I do not believe any police chief in any city has much influence on crime. In Cincinnati, for example, violent crime has been steadily decreasing since 2003, long before the Police Chief came to town. It is my opinion that crime trends are influenced by other factors.
The population in Cincinnati in 1950 was over 500,000. In 2010 it is just over 300,00. Fewer people means less criminals and less potential victims which equates to lower crime. Young people account for a lot of the crime in a City. AS the baby boomers grew older and quite procreating the birth rate has declined steadily over the years. Again, less youth, less crime. What has the Chief done to reduce crime? New uniforms? No hats? 10 hour shifts? I think not.
Maybe the powers that be should reconsider what factors to use in rating the Police Chief. How well he manages his personnel, or how well he manages his budget, for example. To be truthful, he most likely he is evaluated on those items, as well as crime reduction. My point is, evaluate him on those things he can control. Giving kudos for reducing crime is just fluff. Personally, I think overall the Chief is doing a good job and I think he deserves a pay raise as much as anyone else, or to put a different slant on it, everyone else deserves a pay raise as much as the Chief. I have a few issues with his performance overall, but then anyone who knows me would be surprised if I did not.
One final thought, if crime goes up next year, will the Chief get a pay cut?
“So it is written so shall it be”