« Nell Soto Announces Retirement | Home | MPOA and Monrovia at odds in salary negotiations. »
Monrovia Cops Battling Gangs - And City Hall
By Robert C.J. Parry | March 8, 2008
Well, it’s official: The City of Monrovia is definitively at war with its police officers.
At exactly the moment when the City most needs our men and women in blue - when the anti-gang full-court-press is increasingly shifting from mutual aid agencies over to MPD - the City elects to post classless allegations against the Monrovia Police Officers’ Association on its Web site. The City’s statement, which was posted Friday, calls the MPOA’s “demands” “unrealistic” and hints strongly that the City would go bankrupt and cut services to meet MPOA’s positions.
Moreover, the City has made statements and claims without offering any substantive supporting information. Most specifically, the City claims its offer (a 16.5% raise over 3.5 years) will place MPD officers’ compensation “in the top five” of 13 surveyed San Gabriel Valley Cities. In other words, they will be in the middle 1/3 of other cities, hardly an “unrealistic” position. However, the City posts no data to support this claim.
By contrast, MPOA’s Website shows a graph showing they are presently by far at the bottom of those 13 cities. 
It’s not even close. Moreover, when Arcadia POA was having a similar conflict with its City Council a few months ago, APOA posted an extensive survey of about 25 cities showing that the three lowest paid were Sierra Madre (which has long been the lowest), Arcadia (which has since received a hefty increase) and Monrovia. That means the lowest remaining are Monrovia and Sierra Madre.
So, what’s the truth? On the surface, it’s hard to tell. Salary surveys, like all statistics, are a matter of perspective. For instance, a City can have the highest entry-level salary but the lowest pay for veterans. It could have low base pay but extensive bonuses for education, language skills and special assignments.
None of them apples are quite the same.
But, MPOA has some pretty compelling documents that make the case that circumstances in the department are not appealing.
The first damning piece of evidence is this chart showing that 15 officers with more than a 150 combined years of expereince have left MPD in recent years - for other departments. Notably, nine of them had in excess of a decade of experience, and four had at least 15 years. In fact, one was eligible for retirement when he jumped to Alhambra PD.
It’s impossible to tell (from the chart) in what time frame they left, but any time an orgnization is losing that much institutional knowledge, there is a sense of trouble. Those are the old hands who should be showing the new kids how the job is done.
And, MPD is due for a lot of new kids!
The second item of evidence reveals that in the last five years, MPD has lost four positions (from 67 to 63 authorized). More importantly, a dozen of those 63 slots are presently open. That includes lieutenant slot and two detectives. In fact, of the 32 authorized positions in the rank of “Police Officer” nine are listed as “open.”
That’s a quarter of the beat cops who should be taking on the gangster thugs who’ve sullied the City’s name!
So, the City is supposed to hire a dozen new cops - nearly half of the Police Officer ranks in the city (the folks who come to your door when you call 911), and it has lost 150 years of mentoring experience to show them the ropes.
Yet, the City claims “there is no crisis.” That is the standard line of Dick Singer, the Cit’s Information Officer and head of the Ministry of Truth. I’ve called for his dismissal, and this ridiculous incident is just another bullet point on the exit memo. I direct you again to the image of Mr. Singer playing the cop in the movie “Dragnet,” waving his arms as the fireworks factory explodes in blazing glory, all the while mumbling “keep moving, nothing to see here.”
No crisis indeed, Mr. Singer.
I do not know what the facts and figures are, thus I can’t come down firmly on one side or the other. But I do know this: MPD clearly has a police recruitment crisis; the City is exiting a gang crisis; MPOA offers more facts and figures than the City; MPD cops presently start at $4,429 a month, and max out at $5653. So the youngest hard-chargers on the street who are really the ones the gangsters fear are barely clearing $50k a year. That’s not a lot of money in a town where small houses still go for 10-times that.
The City, no doubt, will argue they pay a market competitive wage. 12 vacancies and 150 years of departed experience tell me they do not. Headlines of a gang war should be all the evidence they need.
Should be.
Last 5 posts in Main Page
- Feed Portantino's Election Reelection Campaign - July 23rd, 2008
- Alvarez Waterboarded! - July 23rd, 2008
- Morning Linkfest: 7 Reasons to Hate Corporations - July 23rd, 2008
- Even the Cost of Underwear Is Increasing - July 23rd, 2008
- Pasadena Has a New City Clerk - July 23rd, 2008
Topics: Main Page, City Council, Cops and Robbers, Monrovia |
March 8th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Dude I am working on my own version that will go up shorty here. We need to talk more and coordinate these efforts.
March 8th, 2008 at 11:19 am
MPOA is doing the automated calling to broadcast their message - and they were are Pavilions last night with flyers. Very nice men, respectful - sincere - wanting to get their side out as well.
The flyers encourage people to call Mayor and Council at City Hall and direct people to their website: www.monroviapoa.com
With all of the public safety issues currently facing Monrovia - either the City is incredibly stupid for letting this issue come up now or the Police have a much better strategic plan than the City staffers.
Whatever the reason it comes up now, I like seeing the debate in a City where everyone usually chooses to be so polite and debate is seen as a flaw. They like to sweep everything under the rug and let the Old Boys Network run the show, with Jake’s catering the whole sorted affair.
March 8th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
[…] and Monrovia at odds in salary negotiations. Monrovia Cops Battling Gangs - And City Hall Nell Soto Announces Retirement Aaron Proctor’s Campaign Donations Speaking of Forgetting Our […]
March 8th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
The link to the City website does not seem to go through…try this one; http://cityofmonrovia.org/index.cfm/346016/POA-Response.cfm
It is hard to separate the City view from opinion. How about factual information to back their play? Compare apples within the SGV not to a bay area city twice the pop. Vallejo is not going under overnight. There is sure to be more to the story than simply blaming the cops and fire packages.
March 8th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
appropriate, Sierra Madre’s police isn’t on the chart - probably because it barely qualfies as a legit police force - it’s just a step up from Post Alarm
March 8th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Tom-
Thanks. The Pasadena Star-News editorial is newly added. It was not up last night.
Is the PSN now the City’s voice of authority? Does Steve Scauzillo now speak for Mr. Ochoa?
I’ve seen a politician cite an editorial before, but I can’t recall ever seeing a City officially cite an editorial as justification for policy.
Mind boggling!
March 8th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Ask questions of your Monrovia polititions! Are you aware that Dick Singer (PIO) for Monrovia makes more than twice the annual salary than that of a trained police officer. Scott Ochoa, City Manager, makes double Singers’ salary. Amazing that the officer’s of Monrovia are asking for nothing but to be paid “An Average Package” to that of the surrounding police departments. Sounds to me that the greedy polititians are the ones that are lining their pockets with all of our tax dollars. Ochoa compares Monrovia to Vallejo. Who cares about Vallejo? Does Vallejo have a shortage of 12 officers on their police department? Do they have the gang problem Monrovia has had since January of 2007? I support the MPOA’s position and will strongly voice my opinion on March 18th at the council meeting. The time has come for a new Mayor, council members and city manager…
March 8th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Annony…what is your source for Singers salary? I know Ochoa is making a bundle.
Your final sentence is interesting, sounds familiar, have we talked recently?
March 8th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
The beauty of public employment is that their salaries are public record. Ask Ochoa about his tricky home loan package the city is funding? Those who live in glass houses (Ochoa) shouldn’t throw stones…
March 8th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Not to get off the subject but the problem on North Primrose could be directly linked to the shortage of officers. Didn’t Monrovia used to have three motor officers? I guess that was another one of Ochoa’s cost cutting measures for the police department…
March 8th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Can anyone share the SPECIFICS of what the Police are seeking? I mean specific numbers, incentives, etc.?
March 8th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Yes, annony, I talked with Local Boy recently. Not that long ago we had 3 traffic patrol, we now only have one. That guy rocks but he can only do so much and isn’t on duty 24/7.
What Ochoa got a special loan on his house? Is it at least in Monrovia?
Damn…with the money he makes he deserves no special treatment.
The only ones deserving a break on loans and being given priority in affordable housing needs to be our teachers, firefighters and policeman. We trust them with our kids, families and homes, they deserve the breaks on home loans to live here, not someone making 182K plus benefits a year.
March 8th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
i read that vallejo article no signature…smells of trick dick
April 19th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I always love it when people talk about salary. If you want what someone else makes go get a job like theirs. Be happy in your life, it is good Karma. To covet what someone else has is bad Karma. Go in peace, be happy, don’t worry about someone else.