The Halifax County manager and finance staff will analyze a salary request from Sheriff Tyree Davis and also examine the issue of transporting mental health patients, sometimes as far as the North Carolina mountains.
Davis discussed his needs with county commissioners Monday in light of his deputies patrolling in towns with limited police officers, overtime needs, and the transport issue.
Three current town police chiefs and a former town police chief spoke in support of the sheriff during the meeting.
“I’m coming to you with realistic numbers that put us in competition with everybody else so we can recruit and retain good officers,” Davis said.
The sheriff said he is seeking a 15 percent increase in patrol salaries, which would take starting salaries up to $54,838. “That’s just above Enfield, that’s below the hospital, but it still helps us compete with not only our county but other counties,” he added.
With the detention center, Davis requested an 8 percent increase. With that increase, the detention center pay would go from $43,178 to $46,632. “That will put us in a range where that will help us retain staff and to hire staff.”
He also discussed incentive raises for staff who complete certain milestones.
For officers who earn an intermediate certification, he would like to see a 2.5 percent increase. For officers earning their advanced certification, he would like to see an additional 2.5 percent increase.
For officers with associate's degrees, he would like to see another 2.5 percent increase; a 5 percent increase for officers with a bachelor's degree; and for those with a master’s or doctorate, a 7 percent raise. “If you’re bilingual, I would like to be able to give a two-and-a-half percent raise. We have people we’re arresting and dealing with all the time that we can’t communicate with. We have two officers who are able to speak Spanish, but we would like to hire more.”
Commissioner Sammy Webb asked the sheriff about overtime. Davis responded, “I know we have different officers turning in 60 to 70 hours of overtime. It’s just not one or two. There are several with these transports.”
The transports have increased because Halifax County has the largest intake of mental health patients at a time when the fourth floor of ECU North—the mental health floor—has shuttered, the sheriff said. “Every one of those patients who come to those hospitals and need secondary treatment cannot get it at the (local) hospital. They have to be transported to a secondary location.”
The sheriff’s office takes 110 transports out of the county every month. “One may be to Ahoskie, but one may be to Winston-Salem, and one may be to the mountains. And when we’re doing that, with us already being short-staffed, we’re short because we’re out on a trip.”
“It is not the sheriff’s office’s job to transport people out of the county,” Davis said, “but it falls on the office.”
County Manager Dia Denton told the board that she and Davis have had previous discussions about transports and “the fact they have had a tremendous increase with the fourth floor closing at the hospital.”
“There are private contractors who do these transports,” Denton said. “If we can get one or more counties that do it, we can see if we can make that work, because that would take a lot of pressure off all your deputies to get a private contract to make those transports.”
Davis said most of the private contractors are in the western part of the state. “There are no companies here who are able to do the eastern part of the state.”
Denton said, “It could be that there needs to be a conversation with these companies that they could consider expanding to the eastern part of the state. I think that’s an option we should heavily explore that will help with your staffing pressures.”
She said the county will crunch the numbers the sheriff presented. “We did the salary study two years ago that brought us in line, but I said you can’t take your foot off the gas.”
