Dallas Studying Whether It Can Recoup Training Costs When Police, Fire Academy Grads Leave
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The city of Dallas is reviewing whether it can legally recover some of the training costs from recruits who graduate from the police and fire academies then leave for similar, higher paying jobs in other cities.
That information came out during the city council's budget meeting Wednesday, when council members Lee Kleinman and Jennifer Gates asked Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief David Coatney about the possibility.
"We are actually looking at that. We're working with legal right now," said Chief Coatney. "The city manager directed us to look more into that and we are doing that."
He didn't elaborate and his department declined to say anything further Thursday.
The issue comes as council members once again debate how much more to pay the city's first responders amid complaints of lower pay.
Both the police and fire departments say they have a problem retaining officers and firefighters because they have gone to suburbs that can pay them more money.
As CBS 11 first reported Wednesday night, city records show at least nine officers who graduated from the academy within the past year aren't there now.
Three of them left within a week of graduating.
On Thursday, we learned five firefighter recruits left during their training and before they graduated.
Council member Tennell Atkins says, "We should look at all options."
Atkins says he's glad the city attorney's office is investigating how or if the city can recoup some or part of the $90,000 it costs to train each police recruit.
It costs $46,000 to train a firefighter.
But about a year after graduating from the academy, Dallas Fire Rescue spends an additional $50,000 per firefighter to certify them as paramedics.
Council member Philip Kingston says while the city should look into this, it still wouldn't solve the basic problem. "Trying to collect some training money is like a band-aid on a hatchet wound."
The President of the Dallas Police Association, Mike Mata suggests the city consider targeting the other municipalities who lure Dallas' newly trained first responders. "Go after them. They know what they're doing. They're circumventing their costs to have to train by waiting until that recruit finishes our academy and then goes and tries to get them then. That's no secret. They've been doing that a long time."
On Thursday, Councilwoman Gates said she's considering working with state lawmakers on crafting a bill that would require municipalities that lure new recruits away from other cities to reimburse the departments for their training.
In addition to retaining officers, Dallas Police also has the problem with recruiting officers, a problem facing many other cities nationwide.
Most Dallas council members believe the best way to attract and keep first responders is by boosting starting pay and giving them across the board raises between three and five percent.
Councilman Kingston says, "Our officers and firefighters are leaving the department because we haven't made conditions such they feel as if they have a future there and that's what we need to fix."
Councilman Atkins agrees, "We got to make sure the senior officers are going to stay also. We can't just worry about the ones coming in and also lose them. It's a barbell tip. We got to look at both sides."
Potential raises would come in addition to the pay increases officers and firefighters are to receive during the upcoming budget year as part of the final year in the contracts.
But Councilman Kleinman has said he opposes boosting their salaries until they negotiate a new contract because he says the city needs to offset rising property values. "We have a contract with these associations and they want to break the contract and that lack of integrity really bothers me. I'm not supportive of that. It imposes major tax increases on our citizens."
Mata says the city can't afford to wait for a new contract to boost pay, saying hundreds of officers have left the department during the past four years. "For once, let's fix a problem, instead of putting a Band-Aid on it. Secure us long-term so that we know our officers are going to stay here."
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