Lakeland police officers, sergeants, and lieutenants will get significant pay raises
beginning Oct. 1. Officers’ pay will rise by 6.1%, sergeants will get a 7.9% raise, and lieutenants will receive a 7.6% increase.
The City Commission approved the increases on May 18 after a wage study found the city was paying thousands less than comparable agencies. The raises affect 252 union-covered officers, sergeants, and lieutenants. They will cost about $1.5 million annually in wages and “slightly less than $2 million in total with the benefits added to it,” according to city Finance Director Mike Brossart.
Police Chief Sam Taylor said the raises are not a response to a staffing shortage, but a move to help Lakeland retain trained officers and maintain leadership stability as the city grows.
“This was proactive,” Taylor said, describing the raises as part of Lakeland’s effort to stay competitive and “anticipate issues before they become an issue.”
The increases were required under the city’s collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police, which included a conditional wage reopener if Lakeland’s pay fell more than 6% below comparable agencies. The city and union had already agreed on the 13 departments used for comparison.
The Oct. 1 start date coincides with the city’s new budget year. Brossart said money for the raises will come from the city’s general fund.
What changes Oct. 1
- Police officers: Midpoint annual salary rises from about $82,018 to $87,021
- Police sergeants: Midpoint annual salary rises from about $106,346 to $114,748
- Police lieutenants: Midpoint annual salary rises from about $123,018 to $132,367
How Lakeland compared
The wage study looked at 13 comparable law enforcement agencies, including Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Hillsborough County, Orange County, Polk County, Winter Haven, and Plant City.
At the time of the study, Lakeland’s midpoint pay trailed the average of comparable agencies by:
- Police officers: about $2,400 less per year
- Police sergeants: about $5,000 less per year
- Police lieutenants: about $6,000 less per year
That gap triggered the contract’s economic reopener.
Fully staffed, but planning ahead
Taylor said LPD is fully staffed — and slightly over.
The department is budgeted for 278 sworn officers and currently has 279 because the city allows it to overhire when officers are deployed with the military reserves.
Taylor said the raises are aimed less at filling vacancies than retaining trained officers and maintaining stability in a growing city.
“We typically don’t lose officers to other agencies,” Taylor said. “It’s usually the other way around.”
Still, he said competitive pay matters because of the city’s investment in each recruit.
It takes about a year to hire, train, send a recruit through the academy, and get that officer ready for the street, Taylor said. By then, taxpayers have made “a big investment” in that employee.
“We like to retain them,” he said.
A wave of retirements ahead
Taylor said LPD’s upper ranks include the chief, three assistant chiefs, and five captains.
Of those nine top managers, eight are currently in the city’s Deferred Retirement Option Program, or DROP.
Some recently entered the program, while Taylor and Captain Tye Thompson are about four years in. That means the department could see significant turnover at the top within about six years, he said.
That could reshape much of LPD’s command staff over the next several years, making succession planning increasingly important.
Taylor said he is confident in the department’s internal leadership pipeline.
LPD has 12 lieutenants, and 36 sergeants who Taylor described as “the backbone of the agency” because they help shape and supervise younger officers in the field.
“We have a really deep bench,” Taylor said. “I couldn’t be prouder of these men and women that are holding their hands up.”
LPD spokeswoman Robin Tillett said a wage study for captains is underway through the city’s Human Resources department to ensure captain pay remains above lieutenant pay.
