Missouri sheriff's office sees 17 babies born this year after raises
One county in Missouri has a posse of 17 new sheriff's deputies, all of them less than a year old. The babies' dads all work for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, just south of St. Louis.
More than a dozen of the dads and their babies recently posed together for a picture. "I think no one realized how many babies there were until we showed up that day for the picture, and then it was kind of an awe factor just seeing them all," Captain Andy Sides said.
The baby boom may be thanks to a financial boon for the county's deputies, CBS News correspondent Meg Oliver reports. In April 2018, Jefferson County residents voted to pass Proposition P, a property tax increase that raised salaries in the sheriff's office, something the officers hadn't seen for over 30 years.
"It was a huge help. I mean, obviously having kids is expensive," said Deputy Cody Cawvey. "When you go from 37, 38,000 starting pay to 50,000, that's life-changing for a family."
The proposition was passed in hopes to prevent the officers from leaving for more competitive salaries.
"I think Prop P definitely helped. You have a little bit more flexibility in starting a family when there's more money coming in," Sergeant Matt Moore said.
The "Prop P babies," as they're known, have some competition around the country. Nine members of the Rancho Cucamonga Fire Department in California, nine labor and delivery nurses at the Maine Medical Center and 36 nurses from the Kansas City Children's Hospital all had babies or got pregnant in 2019. But Jefferson County can boast to have one of the largest booms at one time.
"There's a lot of parenting tips going around the office right now, so we're always joking and asking how each other's children are doing," Sides said. "You see one of the guys coming in looking pretty tired and you're not sure if they were on a call all night or if they were up with their newborn all night."
All moms and their babies are happy and healthy, and surprisingly no names were repeated.