Officials within the Howard County police union are employing an interesting negotiating tactic by contending that officers' salaries in Howard should reflect those in neighboring Prince George's and Montgomery counties.
James Fitzgerald, president of the Howard County Police Officers Association, says the comparison is important because it supports the union's demand for higher salaries. If Howard salaries were brought in line with the other two counties, Howard officers would have less reason to abandon the county for greener pastures. "When you have happy police officers, you have productive police officers, and the citizens get even better service," Mr. Fitzgerald says.
Assuming that Mr. Fitzgerald is right about the causal link between pay, morale and service, the comparison he makes needs to be probed further. The idea that some higher-ranking officers are lured elsewhere by more attractive benefits is probably valid. But equally valid is the notion that workers be compensated properly for their work, and there can be no apt comparison between Howard, Prince George's and Montgomery.
By nearly every measure, Howard's sister counties present greater challenges to their respective police departments. It is not that Howard police are lax in their duties; it is simply that they are not confronted with the same demands.
Howard County has a population of 212,000 residents. Prince George's population is 750,000 and Montgomery's is 782,000. Police in the two closer-in Washington suburbs respond to far more calls for service: 814,000 for Montgomery last year and 781,000 for Prince George's, compared with 89,000 in Howard. There have been no murders in Howard County this year, but Montgomery has had two and Prince George's 17.
Larger, more urban police forces understandably command higher salaries. There are good officers who would prefer the working conditions in Howard over the few thousand dollars more they might earn elsewhere.
While Howard County can try to match salaries with its neighbors, there will always be a jurisdiction somewhere that pays more. Officials should concentrate on providing fair compensation and forget about playing catch-up with jurisdictions with more resources and far greater problems.