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Lynchburg, VA -
Could Lynchburg's skinnier budget impact public safety? A police advocacy group worries the city's 3% pay cut could drive good, needed officers away. The concern is officers can get a better deal somewhere else, meaning higher pay and better benefits. They say holding on to experienced officers is critical to keeping the streets safe.
Last year, violent crime in Lynchburg rose 7.4%. This year, the officers hired to fight it will be making less.
Doug Childress, Police Benevolent Assocation - "It's discouraging to know that you have to do this, and still be expected to keep the city as safe as always. But we're professionals, and when we put on the badge, that's what we're going to do."
Every city employee, except school workers is getting a pay cut. Doug Childress, a 19-year veteran of the Lynchburg Police (web) Department, also heads the local Police Benevolent Association. He says Lynchburg's force is the only one in the state getting a cut. He knows of a dozen officers looking for better paying jobs elsewhere.
Childress - "It's very tough to say, 'Hey, please stay here don't go there.'"
Jeff Helgeson, Lynchburg City Council (web) , Ward 3 - "We have got to have the best police force, and that requires paying them. It requires paying them well to keep the best."
Councilman Jeff Helgeson wants to take money from the school budget to give to police, but that didn't gain any traction at Tuesday's meeting.
Mayor Joan Foster, City of Lynchburg- "If you are going to fill that gap for the police officers, where was that money coming from?"
Police Chief Parks Snead says pay cuts are better than layoffs, which some Virginia agencies are looking at.
Chief Parks Snead, Lynchburg Police Department - "We're doing the best to maintain services with very limited resources."
LPD data shows, after the cuts, Lynchburg officers are among the lowest paid compared to four other regional departments.
Childress - "It's going to be very difficult for us to be competitive with private industry and even with our local municipalities whose starting salaries are higher than ours."
And a memo that Chief Snead sent to the city manager at the request of Helgeson shows that BWXT has been a big competitor for Lynchburg Police, taking sworn officers to work security.
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