This is part 1 in a series The Enterprise-Tocsin is doing on Indianola’s dwindling police force and the impact of understaffing on crime, morale, and justice in the city.
The City of Indianola was already reported over a half dozen officers short when three more patrolmen tendered their resignations to the board of aldermen on Monday night.
Turnover is not a new issue for the department, which has been without a full-time police chief since the summer.
Indianola’s city board bumped the starting pay for certified officers from $12 to $15 during former Chief Edrick Hall’s tenure, but even that has failed to compete with larger markets like Southhaven that are just a couple of hours away.
While $15 is still reportedly below the starting rate for neighboring towns in the Delta, Indianola’s city board does not seem inclined to increase the pay any higher at the moment.
Kevon Tescum and Deracioul Winford were two of the officers who resigned on Monday.
Winford was once featured in The Enterprise-Tocsin as one of two officers praised by previous chief Hall for getting dangerous weapons off the street.
Tescum also received praise from his colleagues and superiors.
Sgt. Ozie Carter, who worked with Tescum for two years, knows the impact of losing the officer.
“To me, he is the epitome of what an officer should be,” Carter said. “There are no complaints. He just comes in and does his job, and he does it well. There’s no feedback when you give him a direct order to do something. He just gets it done. He’s very prompt about coming to work. He isn't late.”
Interim Police Chief Earnest Gilson said the police department is currently down nine to 10 officers.
The low numbers not only affect daily patrols and crime prevention, but they also impact emergency response, investigations and ultimately justice for victims and their families.
Indianola Mayor Ken Featherstone ran for office on the platform of law and order and reforming the city’s police department.
He continued his push on Monday for the board to improve the pay for officers in order to create a competitive salary that he said would halt the department’s labor shortage.
“We need to become fully staffed, we need to do more hiring, we need to offer competitive salaries for police,” Featherstone said. “We have a crime problem here in Indianola, which won’t get better with a depleted police force. That’s something that we absolutely need to work on.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for officers and detectives was $67,290 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $39,130.
During the board’s Feb. 14 meeting, Featherstone asked Officer Arriel Hutchenson to speak to the board and share her sentiments, which she said reflected the sentiments of multiple officers on the force.
“Our concerns are understaffed and underpaid,” Hutchenson said. “You know that we work for $15 an hour, which in comparison to other departments, we can’t compete with them, because they're $17, $18, 19 an hour, even some just went up to $22 an hour, and those are just the numbers for Delta.”
Hutchenson said her $15 hourly wage does not qualify for any governmental assistance.
“It’s unlivable,” Hutchenson said. “I’m on night shift, so I’m working full-time, 86 hours every two weeks for this, and then I have to wake up during the day just to make a decent enough wage to live.”
Hutchenson reasoned with the board by asking what the police force could do to receive support from the board.
At the next meeting, Featherstone acted on that plea by asking for a motion to raise the certified officers’ $15 hourly wage to $16.
“The reason these officers are leaving is that there is a more competitive salary elsewhere,” Featherstone said.
However, Featherstone was met with opposition across the board.
Referring to the pay raise the department received last year, Ward 1 Alderman Gary Fratesi said he feels a bump in pay was not the solution this time around.
“This time last year, we went from $12-$15,” Fratesi said. “The same scenario, all our guys were leaving. This is going to answer all the problems. We had a $15 across the board, and they kept leaving.”
Fratesi is also concerned with how other city departments view an additional pay raise for just IPD.
“Once you do this, all the people in public works are walking off because if I asked them if they are making enough money,” Fratesi said, “They are going to tell you no. Anybody you asked will tell you that.”
Alderman Sam Brock shared the same sentiments while also expressing concern about the board's financial ability to fulfill the mayor’s request.
“Do you think we financially can bump our salaries up and leave the other employees out?” Brock asked. “The answer to the question is no. For one, it is only creating a bigger deficit for us if we continue to escalate salary increases for everybody.”
Alderman Marvin Elder supported the pay raise and thought the shortage of officers would justify a potential pay raise without creating a deficit for the city.
“If we are already nine to 14 officers short and you only have a few there now,” Elder said, “The money is already in the budget.”
Alderman Ruben Woods was not entirely against the raise. He offered some thoughts on how the officers could issue the pay hike.
“I think we need to get together and establish a scale on who is going to get what,” Woods said.
“We could offer to start officers off at $15 an hour. After one year, you get an increase for $16 and up another year, maybe.”
Woods suggested those in favor of officer raises prepare a proposal that specifies who receives the raise and how the city will pay them.
The board agreed to table the matter, but Featherstone feels there should be immediate action.
“We have to start somewhere,” Featherstone said. “This is a good start. Let’s take care of the people that take care of us.”
