What is the answer to Huntersville’s police shortage? Commissioner candidates weigh in

Higher salaries and affordable housing — these are among incentives that could help recruit and retain police officers working in one of Charlotte’s largest suburbs — Huntersville.

With years of high turnover plaguing the town’s police department, candidates in Huntersville Board of Commissioner race responded to a Charlotte Observer questionnaire with solutions to help slow this trend. Out of 16 candidates running for open commissioner seats, 14 responded.

Solutions ranged from offering pay increases to dedicated housing for law enforcement. Current commissioners Dan Boone and Derek Partee are running for the mayoral seat.

Turnover rates have been escalating since 2018, when then-Huntersville Police Chief Cleveland Spruill told WBTV officers were leaving to join the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, where they could make more money.

In 2022, former Police Chief Bence Hoyle told Huntersville commissioners that the town had 1.5 officers per 1,000 residents, while neighboring towns had, on average, 2.6 per 1,000 residents, the Lake Norman Citizen reported.

According to an organization chart in the town’s budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year, there are 106 sworn officers within the Huntersville Police Department, but the department’s $17 million budget includes funding for 127 full-time officers.

With a population of roughly 63,000 and 106 full-time officers, the town currently has 1.6 officers per 1,000 residents.

Increasing pay

When asked how the town should recruit and retain officers, nearly all candidates mentioned pay increases.

The base starting salary for officers in Huntersville is $50,773, according to the town’s budget, with pay incentives for officers who live in town. New officers with college degrees or prior experience in law enforcement, can earn up to 70,973 annually.

While those numbers are higher than pay ranges in nearby towns, such as Davidson and Cornelius, they are considerably lower than salaries offered in Charlotte. Officers working for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, can earn salaries of up to $100,249, according to the department’s website.

“We need to enhance our competitiveness in terms of pay for all town employees,” candidate Amanda Dumas said. “It’s essential to ensure that our salaries are competitive with neighboring towns to prevent our employees from becoming a training group for other municipalities.”

“Huntersville boarders Charlotte and is in Mecklenburg County,” candidate Nick Walsh said. “To suggest that we are competing for employees from anywhere else is well, naïve. We have to keep up with our big sister to the south!”

Workforce housing

Dumas, along with candidates Matt Jones, Jennifer Hunt, Frank Gammon and Alisia Bergsman said the lack of affordable housing is affecting the police department’s ability to recruit officers.

The median home value in Huntersville is $332,600 and the median rent is $1,509, according to the most recent U.S. Census numbers. Both are more than 50% higher than the state average.

“We need to create policy via town ordinances to incentivize the development of housing that is affordable and attainable for our police, fire and municipal staff as well as teachers, nurses and workforce,” Jones said.

A few candidates even took it a step further by advocating for workforce housing.

According to the Urban Land Institute, workforce housing is defined as housing affordable to households earning between 60 and 120% of area median income (AMI). It targets middle-income workers which includes professions such as police officers.

“The Huntersville police chief recently stated that 70% of Huntersville law enforcement officers used to live within the same community they serve, and that number is down to 30% presently,” Bergsman said. “I believe Huntersville should explore collaborative workforce housing programs so the people who protect our neighborhoods can live in the community they serve.”

Improving working conditions

While pay is a big factor, candidates Jamie Wideman and John O’Neill pointed out that the town won’t be able to attract new officers without suitable working conditions.

“We need to thoroughly evaluate the morale of current staff,” Wideman said. “Your existing staff will be the best recruiters you could ever have, but only if they are satisfied with the working conditions.”

O’Neill suggested that officials examine which positions within the police department are experiencing the most turnovers and why, whether the department has meaningful exit interviews, and current employees attitudes about leadership.

Rob Kidwell, a current commissioner, said that focusing on the morale of employees will lead to higher retention rates in the police department.

“While offering more money is an attention grabber, a positive work environment goes the distance as well,” Kidwell said. “While we continue to look at how we can be competitive against other municipalities, we also need to make sure that our employees want to come to work because it’s a good place to work.”