CHARLOTTE — Charlotte’s new police chief is pushing for higher pay and take-home patrol cars as she looks to fill nearly 300 vacancies. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Estella Patterson told lawmakers in Raleigh on Monday the department needs more competitive incentives to recruit and retain officers.
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“I know that we have got to fill vacancies,” Patterson told the state Oversight Committee.
She said CMPD has 289 open positions with starting pay around $59,000 a year for new officers.
The department is currently offering a $7,500 signing bonus for new police recruits and officers joining from other departments.
Patterson said more needs to be done.
“To ensure that our officers have competitive pay, that what we offer them is the best in the nation, so that the talent wants to come to North Carolina rather than other states,” she said.
Patterson told lawmakers she’d like to see officers get a 10% increase in pay and for the state to fund take-home patrol cars like they do for the state highway patrol.
“Kudos to Chief Patterson for doing that,” said Officer Daniel Redford, president of the Char-Meck Fraternal Order of Police.
Redford said Patterson understands the needs of the officers.
“It’s just harder to be competitive with these other departments that are now matching CMPD’s pay and offering other incentives to go there, so it’s a no-brainer,” Redford said.
Police officers who have take-home vehicles say it’s a nice perk of the job.
Many CMPD patrol officers currently share vehicles from shift to shift.
Channel 9 will monitor any updates to see if Patterson can continue to partnership with the General Assembly for the extra funds.
Last month, Huntersville’s Police chief told Channel 9 that his department has the highest starting salary in the Charlotte metro at $61,000.