Chair Hudson questions DHS on peace officer salaries and retention
Hudson asks how salaries compare to other agencies. Priester says DHS peace officer salaries are extremely low and competing agencies pay more, causing attrition. Dalton calls it a structural problem involving DCAS and state civil service.
What are, how do the salaries compare to security officers at other agencies?
The salaries for our DHS peace officer is extremely low.
Some competing agencies actually exceed what the DHS peace officers actually receive, and that is the...
Predominant reason on why we're losing offices.
Right.
Yeah.
It is a challenge that we're working through with our partners.
It's, in many ways, these are viewed as a similar job when working in DHS facilities or in our colleagues at ACS have a similar title and have a similar
recruitment and retention problem when you could go and do something which is much, has the same pay, has the same, you know, uniform, but is a much easier position.
So it's a structural problem.