Training for the newest batch of San Diego Police recruits starts today -- two days after the police union began negotiating a new contract with the city. KPBS Radio's Andrew Phelps says for some recruits, it's not about the money.
Jared Wilson is fresh out of the San Diego Police academy.
Wilson: I've been wanting to be a cop since I was a little kid, watching, TV shows like "Chips" and stuff like that. All my Legos as a little kid were even cop Legos and stuff.
Now Wilson is 23 and he gets to live his dream, chasing down the bad guys in southeast San Diego. He'll make less money doing it here than he could almost anywhere else in Southern California. He won't get any medical benefits, either.
Wilson: I'm personally single, so the medical benefits doesn't really get to me, although I see a lot of people are struggling with that. I'm going to be a police officer, so I'm obviously not going to be making a lot of money anyway. So I wanted to pick somewhere I'd be happy career-wise, hopefully the other stuff will work itself out.
Wilson turned down a smaller agency that pays more. Someday he'd like to be a negotiator, the guy who talks down suicide jumpers on the Coronado bridge. That's an opportunity smaller agencies can't offer.
Wilson: While they might pay more cash dollars, some of their benefits and their scheduling is a lot -- not as good as they are here.
Maybe so, but the SDPD is desperate to stop an exodus. Ten percent of the force is vacant. A rookie like Wilson makes around $34,000 in San Diego. That same rookie could make $60,000 in National City, or almost $70,000 in Anaheim.
San Diego's police union is negotiating a pay raise. The department is stepping up recruiting efforts. That means more work for Officer Mariam Sandri.
Sandri: As a recruiter, we don't go out there and try to sell the department on the pay. We sell it on everything else that San Diego Police Department has to offer. It's not a job that you do for the pay anyways. We go out to work every day with a gun on our hip and, and as people are running are running away from danger, we're running into help them. So, it's not about the pay.
Sandri is proud that 35 new recruits start the academy this week. That's more fresh faces than usual -- but still below her goal of 50 per class. For KPBS, I'm Andrew Phelps.
