Delray Beach Police Department Losing Officers Plus Recruiting Problems

The Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association (PBA), representing over 160 members of the Delray Beach Police Department, has declared an impasse in contract negotiations with the City of Delray Beach. They cannot agree on a compensation package.

To raise public awareness of the dangers of personnel shortages, the PBA has deployed a billboard truck (pictured above).

Meanwhile, the city’s newsletter said that in negotiations it offered competitive salary increases including a proposed 14% raise over three years. PBA representative Meer Deen argues that this increase still leaves Delray Beach officers earning less than those in neighboring departments. He highlights that starting salaries for new Delray Beach officers remain significantly lower—approximately $62,000—compared to over $73,000 at PBSO and well above $80,000 in Boca Raton.

Negotiations began eight months ago, yet the city’s hired counsel only has met with the PBA five times, often taking 4-6 weeks to present counteroffers.

Despite having an in-house legal team, the city retained outside counsel, Brett Schneider, to handle negotiations.The cost to taxpayers for not having competitive compensation is high due to the fact that highly trained officers end up leaving. Training each new officer in Delray Beach costs approximately $200,000.

“Delray Beach provides outstanding training, producing ‘turnkey’ officers,” says Deen.“Unfortunately, that excellent training benefits other agencies when Delray officers leave for better-paying positions.”

In recent months, nine officers have left the department but not because they were retiring. This attrition has cost the city an estimated $1.8 million in training expenses.

Many of these officers have found success in other agencies because of the quality of Delray’s taxpayer funded training. These Officers are securing promotions and specialized assignments thanks to the training they received in Delray Beach.

For example: Delray Beach officer Elizabeth Stroud, a Delray Beach native and Atlantic High School graduate, was recruited from the Atlantic High Explorer Academy and served three years with the department before leaving for a position in a neighboring agency that pays $12,000 more annually. 

Jonathan Bellman-Otero, a two-year Delray Beach officer, purchased a home in Port St. Lucie. Most Delray Beach police officers cannot afford homes in Delray, Boca Raton or Boynton Beach and many have found home affordability in Port Saint Lucie.  Bellman-Otero received no travel incentives for his commute to Delray Beach. He subsequently joined the Martin County Sheriff's Office.

Another officer with only two years of experience in Delray Beach department joined PBSO, where they immediately earned as much as a seven-year veteran in Delray Beach.

Despite having a dedicated recruitment team, the department struggles to attract new officers. While the department’s website receives many visitors, few applicants meet the hiring criteria. In fact, 99.9% of applicants were disqualified, and many of the applicants have already been rejected by other agencies.

With so many leaving the department, the police are short-staffed and officers in specialty units are being reassigned to road duty where manpower is needed. Officers are unable to take vacations during this time and are forced to use sick days to get a day off.

Moral in the department is understandably low.

To address recruitment and retention challenges, PBA proposes in their negotiations:

• Competitive salaries to match neighboring agencies.

• Retention bonuses for officers who remain for 5 years, 10 years, etc. (the city memo claims that it offered longevity/career service benefit, PBA asserts that it did not.)

• Take Home Vehicle for officers living in Port Saint Lucie and the officer will reimburse the city $75 per bi-weekly paycheck. (Currently all officers get take home vehicles but only if they live in Palm Beach, Martin or Broward County)   

• Parental leave of six weeks (the city’s offer is two weeks up from the current ZERO time).

• An extension of the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) from the current five years to eight years.

Mayor Tom Carney has expressed concerns that extending DROP would lead to higher taxes for Delray Beach residents, stating that senior officers would receive both their full salaries and at least 70% of their salary in retirement benefits for eight additional years.

However, Deen argues that the DROP extension from the longstanding five years to eight years would not impose costs on taxpayers, as officers would be “paying in” for the additional three years.

He explains that the DROP is comparable to someone retiring but then returning to work. He also clarifies that the policy would apply to ALL officers, not just senior personnel.

Delray Beach Police Chief, Russ Mager, completed his five-year DROP program, receiving retirement benefits along with his salary for five years.  The current City Commission voted to continue his employment for an additional two years beyond his promised retirement date.

Twenty years ago, Delray Beach had similar staffing numbers as it has today and was among the highest-paying agencies in the region. Despite the city's growth, the department now has 168 officers, with 12-14 being funded by the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).

John Kazanjian, President of the Palm Beach County PBA, reports that Delray Beach Police Department is now the second lowest in pay and benefits among local agencies.

Mayor Carney in his recent newsletter states that in order to fund the deal that the police union is asking for the city may have to raise taxes on residents and pull resources away from road repairs and infrastructure improvements, parks and public services and emergency response and safety initiatives.

The PBA asserts that maintaining a highly trained police force in a premier city is an expense but also an investment. Offering competitive pay and incentives will prevent Delray citizens from facing the long-term consequences of police shortages and turnover.Taxpayers will ultimately decide if they want to trade lower taxes for less police protection.