County sheriff seeks more ‘competitive’ salaries, benefits in face of hiring shortages

The Montgomery County sheriff's office needs about 20 deputies and 68 guards to be fully staffed.

“When you’re down 68 people, that’s a lot," Sheriff Derrick Cunningham said. "Eighteen to 20 deputies, that’s a lot."

Cunningham said the positions have to be competitive in pay and benefits. That is why he is approaching the county commission with a proposal to up both deputy and corrections officers' pay.

The starting salary for a deputy is $46,575, and the starting salary for a corrections officer, without any experience, is $35,681. Under Cunningham's proposal, those starting salaries would increase to $50,767 for deputies and $43,719 for corrections officers.

He also said that in today's political climate, it is difficult to recruit people.

“We see what’s going on around the country with the number of people trying to hire, and you know it’s hard for us in law enforcement, especially given today’s times, and every time you turn on the TV you see police officers getting shot, getting ambushed," Cunningham said.

State Rep. Steve Clouse, an Ozark Republican, has seen law enforcement agencies struggle to recruit enough people throughout the state. It is something that is impacting the whole nation, he said.

There is an increased demand on officers these days, Clouse said.

“It’s just a whole array of issues," Clouse said.

Despite these problems, Jeremy Burkett with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said that the state troopers have never been in a position where they cannot complete their mission.

While an ideal number of state troopers would be 650, the agency is managing with the 416 troopers that it does have. It just means that there are certain times in certain counties that the trooper is on call instead of actively patrolling. Burkett said these counties are rural and generally have few people.

But Cunningham pointed out that Montgomery County includes creative benefits for employees, such as paying for higher education.

As people advance in their careers with the county, officials require them to get degrees. For deputies, captains and above must have a degree. On the jail side, the assistant director and the director have to have a degree.

Related:Montgomery police work with area providers to help those in mental health crises

“So we really push education," Cunningham said.

The program pays for 95% of tuition costs for people pursuing higher education if they get A's, B's will garner them 85% of the cost, and C's will get 75%. The county does not pay tuition for D's and below.

“It’s so sad people don’t take advantage of it," Cunningham said.

Other ways that the sheriff's office is trying to draw in people is by advertising in law enforcement magazines as well as web-based ads and social media ads. The office also runs commercials and hires recruiters to go to schools and other areas.

Cunningham also has a cadet program to give teens 14 to 18 a taste of what working in law enforcement is like. There are four deputies who started their careers as cadets.

Cunningham said cadets know what they are getting into in law enforcement. The office has four paid cadet positions reserved for teenagers once they graduate high school. Once they turn 19, they can start working as corrections officers in the jail. At 21, they can become deputies.

Cunningham would also like to recruit more women to his team, so he has started a boot camp for women who want to become deputies.

Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser's public safety reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or 479-926-9570.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Montgomery County sheriff's office experiences staffing shortage