WS Chronicle

Sheriff’s deputies and detention officers get raise

Photo by Todd Luck

BY TODD LUCK

THE CHRONICLE

County commissioners welcomed Fleming El-Amin as their newest member and gave sheriff’s deputies and detention officers a raise during their Monday, March 27, meeting.

After the sudden death of County Commissioner Walter Marshall in late February, the Forsyth County Democratic Party (FCDP) voted overwhelmingly for Fleming El-Amin to fill out the rest of his term. El-Amin was formerly an FCDP chairman and a county Board of Elections member. He’ll need to run in 2018 to keep the seat.

He told attendees he was thankful for the opportunity to continue Marshall’s legacy and will be transparent in all his decisions.

“I’m glad to be part of this team,” he said.

El-Amin was sworn in by District Court Judge Denise Hartsfield on his own personal Quran held by his wife, Cassaundra. He then took his seat on the commission and participated in the commissioners’ votes.

Among the votes was a unanimous vote to give a raise to sworn officers in the Sheriff’s Office. Starting salary for sheriff’s deputies will increase from $34,807 to $36,250. Starting pay for detention officers will increase from $32,487 to $35,163.

Existing officers will get a raise equal to  25 percent of the difference between their current salary and the new market rate created by the starting salary increase while factoring in their current shift differential. For instance, someone making $17 an hour will get $17.17. Overall the raises cost $1.01 million and will go into effect April 22.

The commissioners also had a 50 percent option that would’ve cost$1.10 million, that they didn’t go for. Under this option, someone making $17 an hour would’ve seen that increase to $17.35.

Sheriff Bill Schatzman said he was glad to see the raise, which he said was needed for recruitment efforts.

“We have to come to a realization of what do we have to pay to get qualified, educated people to come to public safety, to come to law enforcement, and to come to the jail,” Schatzman said.

The number of vacancies for both deputies and detention officers is critically high, forcing officers to work overtime. The Sheriff’s Office’s recruiting issues are similar to law enforcement agencies across the state and nation that have seen numbers of those who want to go into the profession plummeting.

Also during the meeting, County Commissioners voted to:

*Accept a $100,000 grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation to pay for construction of a road into the business park the county is developing off Idol’s Road near Tanglewood Park.

*Hire Cansler Consulting Services to examine options for collaboration between the county health and social services departments, including consolidation options that could eliminate their boards and place them under direct control of the county commissioners.

*Formally accepted the Poverty Thought Forces’ report that includes recommendations to reduce poverty in Winston-Salem.