Gardens raises police salaries to keep officers from leaving the city

PALM BEACH GARDENS – The city is rewarding its police officers with higher salaries to remain competitive with other agencies.

Officers and NCOs received a 15% pay increase on Monday, May 6, and the increases will be reflected in their May 24 paychecks.

Starting salaries for Palm Beach Gardens police officers rose from $62,549 to $70,000 and for sergeants from $98,880 to $109,000. The maximum wage is now $118,800 for officers and $134,000 for sergeants.

The City Council unanimously approved the new contract on May 2nd. It will cost Palm Beach Gardens $1.2 million from the general revenue fund and nearly $500,000 from the police department budget.

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Sheryl Stewart, human resources administrator, said the city has been losing officers to agencies that pay better for at least a year.

“Our job market has continued to change dramatically, which has impacted the recruitment and retention of our police officers,” Stewart told the council.

Since January 2023, seven Palm Beach Gardens police officers have resigned and four are retired, according to a city spokesperson. Today, 105 police officers and 18 sergeants work for the department, which employs a total of 188 people.

Police communications staff’s next paychecks will increase by 7%. This brings the base salary for communications operators to $56,120 and for communications managers to $63,800.

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Stewart said the department competes primarily with the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, which has a starting officer salary of $69,768, and the Palm Beach County School Board, which has a starting officer salary of $66,726 as of March 2024.

The city’s police officers and sergeants were set to receive a 7% raise in October, but the Police Benevolent Association, a statewide union, negotiated for larger raises and an earlier start.

The police department had a contract that ran from October 2022 to September 2025, but this new contract takes effect now, replacing last year and expiring in October 2025 when the city and union negotiate a new contract.

“When you find out that people are dropping out because they can make more money somewhere else, it becomes pretty clear what you need to consider,” said Candice Temple, the city’s communications director. “We believe this will help us be successful in recruiting top-notch officers.”

The city’s goal is to offer police officer salaries that are more competitive with law enforcement agencies of similar size in the county.

In 2022, the Boca Raton Police Services Department offered the highest starting minimum salary among others in the county at $77,860.

The Palm Beach Gardens Police Department has hired 11 officers since the start of this fiscal year, said Stewart, who noted that the raises are “very important and timely.”

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Before voting to approve the higher salaries, Councilman Carl Woods, a former Palm Beach Gardens police officer, called the salary comparisons to the school board “ridiculous.”

“We’re being compared to the school board?” Woods asked. “Absolutely not. The police officers will go out to pasture when they’re done.”

Councilman Bert Premuroso noted that the school board wants to hire more experienced officials for “the situation they have to deal with today.”

“We have to step up because that’s what we always do,” Premuroso said.

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