2021

POLICE AND FIRE SALARY SURVEY

City of Alexandria
Alexandria, LA
INTRODUCTION 1
METHODS 2
POLICE RESULTS 3
POLICE SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS 3
POLICE DEPARTMENT INCENTIVES 6
POLICE OFFICER 7
POLICE CORPORAL 8
POLICE SERGEANT 9
POLICE LIEUTENANT 11
POLICE CAPTAIN 12
POLICE ASSISTANT CHIEF 13
CHIEF OF POLICE 14
JAILER 15
POLICE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER 16
SECRETARY TO THE POLICE CHIEF 17
POLICE RECORDS CLERK 18
FIRE RESULTS 20
FIRE SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS 20
FIRE DEPARTMENT INCENTIVES 23
FIREFIGHTER 24
FIRE EQUIPMENT OPERATOR 25
FIRE CAPTAIN 25
SECOND ASSISTANT CHIEF 26
FIRST ASSISTANT CHIEF 27
FIRE CHIEF 28
FIRE TRAINING OFFICER 29
FIRE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER 29
CHIEF OF FIRE COMMUNICATIONS 30
FIRE PREVENTION OFFICER 31
CHIEF OF FIRE PREVENTION 32
DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES 32
FIRE RECORDS CLERK 33
SECRETARY TO THE FIRE CHIEF 33
CONCLUSIONS 35
APPENDIX A: LIST OF PARTICIPATING LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES 38
APPENDIX B: FIRE CLASS DESCRIPTIONS 39
APPENDIX C: POLICE CLASS DESCRIPTIONS 41
APPENDIX D: DEFINITIONS 44
FIGURES AND TABLES
FIGURES
Figure 1: Working Employees Pursue After Resigning from APD 1
Figure 2: Number of Uniformed Officers by Size of Population Served 4
Figure 3: Average Portion of Total Municipal Budget Allocated to 4
Police Department
Figure 4: Average Percentage of Police Department Budget Spent 5
on Salaries and Benefits
Figure 5: Number of Fire Line Personnel by Size of Municipality 21
Figure 6: Average Portion of Total Municipal Budget Allocated to 22
Fire Department
Figure 7: Average Percentage of Fire Department Budget Spent on 22
Salaries and Benefits

TABLES
Table 1: Police Officer Base Pay for Full Sample 7
Table 2: Average Actual Police Officer Pay for Full Sample 8
Table 3: Police Corporal Base Pay for Full Sample 9
Table 4: Average Actual Police Corporal Pay for Full Sample 9
Table 5: Police Sergeant Base Pay for Full Sample 10
Table 6: Average Actual Police Sergeant Pay for Full Sample 11
Table 7: Police Lieutenant Base Pay for Full Sample 12
Table 8: Average Actual Police Lieutenant Pay for Full Sample 12
Table 9: Annual Salaries for Police Captains for All Data Points 13
Table 10: Police Assistant Chief Base Pay for Full Sample 13
Table 11: Actual Police Assistant Chief Pay for Full Sample 14
Table 12: Chief of Police Base Pay for Full Sample 14
Table 13: Actual Chief of Police Pay for Full Sample 15
Table 14: Jailer Base Pay for Full Sample 15
Table 15: Actual Jailer Pay for Full Sample 16
Table 16: Police Communications Officer Base Pay for Full Sample 16
Table 17: Actual Police Communications Officer Pay for Full Sample 17
Table 18: Secretary to the Police Chief Base Pay for Full Sample 17
Table 19: Actual Secretary to the Chief of Police Pay for Full Sample 18
Table 20: Police Records Clerk Base Pay for Full Sample 18
Table 21: Actual Police Records Clerk Pay for Full Sample 19
Table 22: Firefighter Base Pay for Full Sample 24
Table 23: Actual Firefighter Pay for Full Sample 24
Table 24: Fire Equipment Operator Base Pay for Full Sample 25
Table 25: Actual Fire Equipment Operator Pay for Full Sample 25
Table 26: Fire Captain Base Pay for Full Sample 26
Table 27: Actual Fire Captain Pay for Full Sample 26
TABLES (cont.)
Table 28: Second Assistant Chief Base Pay for Full Sample 27
Table 29: Actual Second Assistant Chief Pay for Full Sample 27
Table 30: First Assistant Chief Base Pay for Full Sample 27
Table 31: Actual First Assistant Chief Pay for Full Sample 28
Table 32: Annual Salaries for Fire Chief for All Data Points 28
Table 33: Fire Training Officer Base Pay for Full Sample 29
Table 34: Actual Fire Training Officer Pay for Full Sample 29
Table 35: Fire Communications Officer Base Pay for Full Sample 30
Table 36: Actual Fire Communications Officer Pay for Full Sample 30
Table 37: Chief of Fire Communications Base Pay for Full Sample 30
Table 38: Actual Chief of Fire Communications Pay for Full Sample 31
Table 39: Fire Prevention Officer Base Pay for Full Sample 31
Table 40: Actual Fire Prevention Officer Pay for Full Sample 31
Table 41: Chief of Fire Prevention Base Pay for Full Sample 32
Table 42: Actual Chief of Fire Prevention Pay for Full Sample 32
Table 43: Annual Salaries for Director of EMS for All Data Points 32
Table 44: Fire Records Clerk Base Pay for Full Sample 33
Table 45: Actual Fire Records Clerk Pay for Full Sample 33
Table 46: Annual Salaries for Secretary to the Fire Chief for All Data 34
Points
Table 47: Percent Difference of Alexandria’s Rate of Pay From the 35
Sample Average, for Police Classes
Table 48: Percent Difference of Alexandria’s Rate of Pay from the 36
Sample Average, for Fire Classes
INTRODUCTION
The city of Alexandria contacted Vermilion Analytics at the beginning of
2021 to conduct a salary survey for its fire and police departments. Pay plans for
these departments have not been updated since 2009, and the planned phased
compensation increases for these employees were never implemented in their
entirety.
In the police department specifically, examination of pay, especially at the
rank of police officer is critical. Since 2013, there have been 72 documented
resignations resulting in a loss of approximately 300 years of law enforcement
experience. As of February 2021, there was a 35% vacancy rate in the rank of
police officer and a 21% vacancy rate in the rank of corporal; several officers
have resigned since those figures were calculated.
Figure 1 below shows what type of work employees report they will be doing
upon separation from the Alexandria Police Department (APD). For the category
of law enforcement, police departments, sheriff’s offices, prisons, and federal
agencies are included. By and large, most of the employees over the last five
years have chosen to continue law enforcement work elsewhere. Anecdotally,
most officers report that they are leaving APD for financial reasons. In some cases,
it is the draw of higher base salary that causes officers to leave. Others report
leaving for benefits that effectively increase take-home pay. Rapides Parish
Sheriff’s Office, a strong competitor for local law enforcement talent for example,
offers a similar starting salary but pays 100% of retirement and insurance
payments.
Figure 1: Work Employees Pursue After Resigning from APD
16

14

12
Number of Employees

10

0
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Private Law Enforcement Other

In 2020, the average length of a resigning officer’s employment was 3.88

years; in 2019, it was 2.49 years. For 2017 and 2018, it hovered at five years. The

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workload performed by officers with two to five years of experience is critical to
the overall function of APD. Officers with two to five years of experience have
been through a lengthy and expensive P.O.S.T. certification process and have
been further trained by APD. Most are responding to calls independently, and
most are performing patrols on the streets of Alexandria. At this point in an
officer’s career, APD is seeing a return on their investment of training.
Now, however, the department is reporting that all specialized units within
APD have been forced to shift their employees to patrol responsibilities. The only
unit that has been spared thus far is the detective unit, and detectives are
planned to start patrol duties within the next few months. APD fears it cannot
successfully protect the city under these conditions and believes that an increase
to compensation is necessary to curb retention issues and to attract new
employees who will stay with the department for many years.
While recruitment and retention of Alexandria Fire Department (AFD)
employees are not as dire as that of APD, fire department employees cite low
base and promotional salaries as the reason why working overtime and
maintaining other employment have become a necessary way of life. Firefighters
typically work 2,640 hours per year, 21% more than employees in 9-to-5 positions.
Compensation for base and competitive classes in both departments are
discussed in the pages that follow.

METHODS
The first step in the salary survey was identification of competing or
comparable law enforcement agencies. Administration for the city of Alexandria
determined which organizations should be included for comparison, and the final
list includes municipalities, universities, and sheriff’s offices (see Appendix A).
Once this list was established, it was necessary to ensure that classes across
agencies were compared equally. For municipalities that operate under the
support of the Office of the State Examiner (OSE), their class specifications were
directly compared to descriptions of classes for the city of Alexandria’s Fire and
Police Departments. Classifications were only considered a match if they shared
most (70% or higher) of the responsibilities listed and those responsibilities were
performed at the same level across the departments. Even if they shared the
same class title, some class specifications were excluded from consideration
because they did not meet these criteria.
For those agencies who did not fall under the jurisdiction of OSE, the salary
survey included description of duties for each class (found in Appendix B and C)
and requested that the agency review the description and determine whether or
not the responsibilities were a 70% match for a class title in their agency. In both
groups, if there were concerns as to whether a position was a 70% match, the
data were excluded from final consideration.

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POLICE RESULTS
POLICE SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS
In all, 16 police agencies submitted data for the salary survey by the
submission deadline with two additional agencies providing data after the
deadline. The information included in this report is based on the 16 agencies
received by the deadline. A complete list of these agencies is available in
Appendix A.
The sampled law enforcement agencies vary considerably in the size of
population served, department size, departmental budgets, and dedicated
revenue sources.
The service population of sampled agencies ranges from 1,230
(Northwestern State University) to 244,390 (Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office) with an
average population of 75,278. Alexandria’s reported population is 47,539.
Like the service population, the number of uniformed or line personnel
varies widely. Police departments have as few as seven uniformed or line
personnel (LSU-Alexandria and Woodworth) and as many as 551 (Lafayette Parish
Sheriff’s Office). As expected, Figure 1 demonstrates that the number of officers
increases as the number of people served by an agency increases. Based on the
trendline equation for Figure 1, Alexandria is predicted to have 116 uniformed
officers for a city of its size; it currently has 134 positions.

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 Figure 2: Number of Uniformed Officers by Size
of Population Served
600

Number of Uniformed Officers

R² = 0.9777
500

400

300

200

100

0
0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000
Number of People Served

On average, there are 362 residents for every one uniformed officer. In
Alexandria, that ratio improves to 355 residents for every officer.
Departmental budgets differ based on the type of law enforcement
agency. For university settings, the police department budget makes up less than
2% of the overall institution’s budget while 100% of funds received by sheriff’s
offices are used within that office. When removing these outliers, the average
municipality spends 25.2% of the total municipal budget on the police
department (Figure 3). Within the police department budget, 77.6% of funds are
spent on salaries and benefits (Figure 4).
Figure 3: Average Portion of Total Municipal Budget
Allocated to Police Department
Police Budget All Other Departments

25%

75%

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 Alexandria currently spends 28.1% of its municipal budget on the police
department and 84.1% of its police department budget on salaries and benefits.

Figure 4: Average Percentage of Police Department Budget

Spent on Salaries and Benefits
Salaries and Benefits All Other Expenses

22%

78%

Eight agencies reported their annual call volume. While Alexandria takes
approximately 18,000 calls per year, the average agency takes 43,168. Based on
conversations with Commissioner Terry, it is possible that the types of calls included
in this count may differ across municipalities and should be examined with
caution.
Out of 14 respondents, five municipalities reported that they have a
dedicated revenue source that helps fund police salaries and benefits. Three
municipalities had a millage for police, and three municipalities had a sales tax
for police (Houma had both a millage and a sales tax). Municipalities with a
dedicated revenue source tend to spend a larger portion of their departmental
budget on salaries (84.6% compared to 77.6%) although the portion of the
municipal budget spent on police funding remains relatively unchanged.
Overall, Alexandria falls right in the middle of the sample in terms of service
population. Alexandria has slightly more officers than predicted based on its
population size, and its uniformed officers serve fewer people per officer than the
state average. Although Alexandria Police Department receives significantly
fewer calls than the average agency of this sample, it should be noted that the
sample is small and that the category of “calls answered” may differ from agency
to agency. The city of Alexandria allocates roughly the same portion of its entire
budget to the police department as other municipalities across the state
although it does dedicate more of its budget to salaries and benefits than
average.

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POLICE DEPARTMENT INCENTIVES
Approximately half of the municipalities who completed the salary survey
questions regarding incentive pay offered at least one type of this compensation
to its officers. The most common types of incentive pay are for educational
attainment (n=3), FTO (n=3) and SWAT (n=3). Other types of incentive pay were
for special operations, automated external defibrillator certification, ‘motors,’
and narcotics work. One agency specifically mentioned night differential pay as
an incentive; it is unclear whether other agencies considered this as special
compensation or not.
For fire departments around the state, longevity increases are mandated
by state statute between the third and 24th year of service. While there is no
corresponding mandate for police employees, nearly 40% of municipalities have
implemented a longevity increase for their police employees as well. Alexandria
does not mandate longevity increases for its police department employees at this
time.
Nearly all reporting municipalities (92%) reported that their patrol officers
completed 12-hour shifts, 83% of which were rotating shifts. Five out of 12 agencies
built overtime into their patrol officers’ schedules.
Around the state, the average number of paid holidays an employee
receives in a calendar year is 14 (range is 10-22). Alexandria currently offers its
employees 10 paid holidays a year.

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POLICE OFFICER
Table 1 shows the base salaries for police officers of 17 different
municipalities or law enforcement agencies. The range in salaries was $29,331-
$43,111. Police officer base salary for the full sample is $35,413 while the base
salary of regional competitors is $34,874. Currently, Alexandria’s base salary for
police officers is $34,000.

Table 1: Police Officer Base Pay for Full Sample

Annual
Municipality/Agency Salary
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office 43,111
Woodworth 42,768
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office 40,178
Lafayette 40,000
Houma 39,686
Bossier City 37,596
Lake Charles 36,358
LSU-Alexandria 35,360
Alexandria 34,000
Pineville 33,000
Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office 33,000
Baton Rouge 32,979
New Iberia 32,550
Slidell 31,699
Northwestern State University 30,243
Monroe 30,157
Hammond 29,331

Alexandria’s current base salary is 4% less than the full market comparison
and 2.5% less than regional competitors. When comparing what the average
starting police officer makes around the state, however, the difference is
significantly larger. Table 2 shows that the range in average actual salaries of
police officers is $30,495-50,733. The average actual police officer salary for the
full sample is $38,923 while the actual regional salary is $39,916. Alexandria’s
actual average police officer salary is $34,175, 13.8% and 16.8% less than the full
sample and regional competitors respectively.
Law enforcement agencies are split as to whether or not they include the
rank of corporal. Those without the rank of corporal have a higher average
actual base salary ($41,159) than those agencies who do include the rank of
corporal ($36,967); this makes sense given there are fewer promotional
opportunities within the departments without corporals. Even accounting for the
presence of the rank of corporal within an agency, however, Alexandria’s
average actual salary for police officers is 8% lower than its competitors.
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 Table 2: Average Actual Police Officer Pay for Full
Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Woodworth 50,733
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office 44,638
Slidell 43,794
Baton Rouge 43,600
Lafayette 43,152
Houma 39,739
Bossier City 38,616
Pineville 38,519
LSU-Alexandria 37,357
Lake Charles 36,507
Hammond 34,271
Northwestern State University 34,206
Alexandria 34,175
Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office 34,041
Monroe 30,495

While police officers in Alexandria start at similar (though slightly lower) base
salaries as their peers, they tend to stay close to their starting salary until they are
promoted to corporal (at 4 years of service). Their competitors, benefiting from
regular salary increases, longevity pay, incentive pay, or some combination
thereof, quickly outstrip them in earning power.

POLICE CORPORAL
As mentioned previously, not all law enforcement agencies have the rank
of corporal, and in some agencies, the duties and responsibilities of a corporal
were not a 70% match or greater to the work performed by a corporal of the
Alexandria Police Department (and, therefore, excluded from the analysis. The
average base police corporal salary is $38,531 (range of $32,365-45,520), 4.6%
higher than Alexandria’s current base pay of $36,840 (Table 3). Regionally three
out of five agencies reported a matching corporal class (Pineville, $36,000;
Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office, $36,000; and Northwestern State University,
$32,365).

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 Table 3: Police Corporal Base Pay for Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual
Salary
Lafayette 45,520
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office 44,311
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office 40,178
Lake Charles 38,979
Alexandria 36,840
Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office 36,000
Monroe 36,585
Pineville 36,000
Northwestern State University 32,365

Most corporals do not start at base salary, however, and the average
actual salary of police corporals for the entire sample is $42,369 (Table 4).
Regional competitors reported average actual salaries of $37,018 (Rapides Parish
Sheriff’s Office), $36,288 (Pineville), and $35,203 (Northwestern State University).

Table 4: Average Actual Police Corporal Pay for

Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Lafayette 53,513
Monroe 48,333
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office 46,321
Lake Charles 43,801
Alexandria 38,475
Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office 37,018
Pineville 36,288
Northwestern State University 35,203

The data indicate that while Alexandria is approximately 10% behind the
statewide market in corporal pay, the city is competitive salary-wise in the local
market. Other benefits, such as payment of retirement benefits and health
insurance by agencies like Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office, are not considered
here.

POLICE SERGEANT
By the rank of police sergeant, Alexandria is performing better than the full
sample average of police sergeant base pay ($42,130) and better than regional
competitors ($41,048, Table 5).

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 Table 5: Police Sergeant Base Pay for
Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Lafayette 51,888
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office 50,470
Houma 46,987
Bossier City 44,664
Woodworth 43,956
Alexandria 43,822
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office 43,618
Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office 43,100
Lake Charles 41,725
Slidell 40,851
Monroe 39,911
Northwestern State University 39,666
LSU-Alexandria 39,520
Pineville 39,000
Baton Rouge 36,164
New Iberia 35,700
Hammond 35,167

Statewide, police sergeants on average make $53,040 per year ($43,721,

regional actual average), shown in Table 6. While Alexandria’s pay is competitive
in the local market, it is 5.3% lower than the statewide market.

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 Table 6: Average Actual Police Sergeant Pay
for Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Lafayette 72,833
Monroe 63,189
Bossier City 62,748
Lake Charles 59,867
Baton Rouge 59,604
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's 53,342
Office
Slidell 52,853
Houma 51,808
Alexandria 50,382
Hammond 50,373
Woodworth 46,046
Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office 45,240
LSU-Alexandria 43,077
Northwestern State University 42,921
Pineville 41,321

Alexandria Police Department’s record of resignations indicates that there

is a sharp decline in turnover by the rank of sergeant. By the time an employee
reaches the class of police sergeant, he or she has 15 years with the department
and is also vested in the retirement system. This coupled with competitive pay
has helped steady APD’s attrition in recent years.

POLICE LIEUTENANT
For the rank of police lieutenant, Alexandria compares favorably to the
statewide average base salary ($49,588) and regional competitors ($47,220)
though it should be noted there are only two competitors, Rapides Parish Sheriff’s
Office and Pineville (Table 7).

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 Table 7: Police Lieutenant Base Pay for
Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Houma 60,923
Alexandria 57,980
Lafayette 56,519
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office 55,723
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office 54,257
Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office 52,440
Baton Rouge 51,198
Bossier City 48,768
Lake Charles 44,054
Monroe 43,237
Pineville 42,000
Hammond 39,544
New Iberia 38,000

For average actual pay of police lieutenants, shown in Table 8, Alexandria

performs competitively against its two regional competitors whose average is
$51,671 but falls 5.5% short of the state sample average of $63,709.

Table 8: Average Actual Police Lieutenant Pay for

Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Lafayette 84,801
Lake Charles 75,817
Monroe 66,417
Baton Rouge 66,070
Bossier City 63,060
Houma 61,927
Alexandria 60,373
Hammond 59,902
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office 59,091
Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office 55,112
Pineville 48,229

POLICE CAPTAIN
There are only three data points available for the class of police captain,
so the results for this section should be considered with caution. While other
municipalities may have the rank of police captain, they either did not sufficiently
match the Office of the State Examiner’s class specification or the law
enforcement agency did not self-identify the match in duties as 70% or higher.

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 Alexandria leads its competitors in both annual base salary and annual
actual salary for police captains. The municipality performs 13.8% higher than
sample average for annual base salary and 1.5% higher for annual actual salary
(Table 9).

Table 9: Annual Salaries for Police Captains for All

Data Points
Municipality/Agency Annual Base Annual Actual
Salary Salary
Alexandria 66,989 69,986
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's 63,077 67,645
Office
Monroe 46,563 69,182

POLICE ASSISTANT CHIEF

As the ranks increase in specialization, their matches among other
agencies decrease. There are seven available data points for this set. Alexandria
leads the sample in annual base salary for police assistant chief with a base 23%
higher than the average of $63,631 (Table 10). In terms of average actual pay,
Alexandria’s annual salary for police assistant chief was 8.0% less than the sample
average of $84,567 (Table 11). No regional comparisons were possible for this
rank.

Table 10: Police Assistant Chief Base Pay for

Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Alexandria 78,325
New Iberia 65,000
Baton Rouge 64,092
Bossier City 63,960
Monroe 59,194
Hammond 51,216

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 Table 11: Actual Police Assistant Chief Pay for
Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Hammond 95,607
Lake Charles 92,133
Bossier City 89,988
Baton Rouge 85,686
Monroe 85,582
Alexandria 78,325
Pineville 64,646

CHIEF OF POLICE
For Chief of Police, Alexandria’s base pay is 4.0% higher than sample
average ($84,578) and 54% higher than the average of three of its regional
competitors ($57,070, Table 12). It should be noted that not only is the data set
small in this instance, the agencies with available data points have significantly
smaller departments than Alexandria (LSU-Alexandria, Northwestern State
University, and Woodworth).

Table 12: Chief of Police Base Pay for

Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office 177,955
Monroe 100,100
Alexandria 88,000
Baton Rouge 87,510
New Iberia 75,000
Northwestern State University 63,690
Hammond 61,429
LSU-Alexandria 60,000
Woodworth 47,520

In terms of actual Chief of Police pay, Table 13 indicates that Alexandria is

3.9% lower than the statewide average of $91,456 but 41% higher than its smaller,
regional competitors ($62,259).

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 Table 13: Actual Chief of Police Pay for
Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office 161,778
Slidell 114,213
Lake Charles 112,008
Monroe 103,700
Alexandria 88,000
Hammond 84,751
Pineville 79,000
LSU-Alexandria 60,000
Northwestern State University 58,344
Woodworth 52,771

JAILER
Many of the municipalities chosen for the sample do not operate a jail. For
the eight agencies below, the average base salary for jailers is $32,495, 30.0%
higher than Alexandria’s starting salary of $25,800. This is shown in Table 14 below.

Table 14: Jailer Base Pay for Full Sample

Municipality/Agency Annual
Salary
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office 41,887
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office 40,178
Bossier City 37,596
Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office 33,000
Hammond 29,331
Slidell 27,206
Alexandria 25,800
New Iberia 24,960

Table 15 lists actual jailer pay for the sample. The average actual salary
received by a jailer is $36,484, 20.6% higher than the average salary received by
jailers in Alexandria.

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 Table 15: Actual Jailer Pay for Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Slidell 44,502
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office 42,813
Bossier City 38,232
Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office 33,375
Alexandria 30,241
Hammond 29,741

The only regional agency in this sample is Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office,
whose jailers make 27.9% higher on their base salary and 10.4% higher on average
than Alexandria’s jailers.
Jailers in Alexandria start at significantly lower rates than their statewide
peers as well as their closest local competitor. While, on average, Alexandria’s
jailers make nearly $5,000 more than the base salary, they are still underpaid
compared to Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office and the larger statewide sample.

POLICE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

For police communications officers, the average base salary of the sample
is $29,700. Currently, Alexandria’s starting salary is $25,800, 15.1% lower than
average. This is shown in Table 16 below.

Table 16: Police Communications

Officer Base Pay for Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Bossier City 36,000
Houma 33,280
Lafayette 32,240
Baton Rouge 31,200
Hammond 29,331
Lake Charles 29,286
Slidell 27,206
Alexandria 25,800
Pineville 24,840
New Iberia 21,582

In Table 17, actual police communications officer salary is compared for

the sample. The average actual salary is $39,141, 27.2% higher than Alexandria’s
average annual salary of $30,763.

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 Table 17: Actual Police Communications
Officer Pay for Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual
Salary
Bossier City 48,852
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office 47,658
Slidell 44,502
Baton Rouge 42,526
Hammond 40,912
Lafayette 37,051
Lake Charles 36,285
Houma 34,311
Alexandria 30,763
Pineville 28,548

For this class, Pineville is the only regional competitor. Alexandria pays more
at starting salary and on average than Pineville.
The class of police communications officer is an important one to watch. A
similar class exists in fire departments across the state and in Alexandria. By state
statute, the fire department communications officers are paid as captains, so
their rates of pay are likely significantly higher than police communications
officers. Turnover from the police department to the fire department is, therefore,
a possibility.

SECRETARY TO THE POLICE CHIEF

Table 18 shows the base salary for the class of secretary to police chief.
Several municipalities who had this class did not seem to set a pay range in the
same way that they do for other departmental positions. Alexandria, for example,
did not provide a base salary for this class. The average base among those
reporting $29,077.

Table 18: Secretary to the Police Chief Base Pay

for Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Bossier City 34,752
Lafayette 34,238
Lake Charles 32,926
New Iberia 32,000
Slidell 28,496
Pineville 26,700
Northwestern State University 22,630

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 Average actual salaries for secretary to the police chief are shown in Table
19. Alexandria’s salary of $47,483 is 18.5% higher than the average sample salary
of $40,061. Alexandria also has a higher actual salary for this class than
Northwestern State University and Pineville, the most proximal agencies in the
sample.

Table 19: Actual Secretary to the Chief of

Police Pay for Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Lake Charles 58,614
Alexandria 47,483
Baton Rouge 46,837
Northwestern State 44,429
University
Pineville 42,192
Lafayette 38,837
Slidell 30,035

POLICE RECORDS CLERK

Police records clerk have a starting salary of, on average, $24,513 a year.
This is higher than Alexandria’s base of $23,400, shown below in Table 20. Pineville
has a higher base pay for its police records clerks while Woodworth has a lower
base pay.

Table 20: Police Records Clerk Base Pay

for Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual
Salary
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office 30,074
Bossier City 29,172
New Iberia 26,500
Pineville 24,840
Lake Charles 24,606
Hammond 23,495
Alexandria 23,400
Lafayette 22,880
Woodworth 20,760
Slidell 19,406

18 | P a g e
 For actual average pay, Alexandria is slightly lower than the sample
average of $31,349 but higher than both Woodworth and Pineville.

Table 21: Actual Police Records Clerk Pay

for Full Sample
Municipality/Agency Annual Salary
Lake Charles 37,386
Hammond 35,317
Slidell 34,403
Alexandria 30,714
Woodworth 30,665
Pineville 29,576
Bossier City 29,172
Lafayette 23,562

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FIRE RESULTS
FIRE SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS
In all, 10 municipalities submitted salary information by the deadline; an
additional municipality (Kenner) submitted its information past the deadline. A
complete list of the municipalities included can be found in Appendix A.
As with the sampled law enforcement agencies, the municipalities that
submitted fire data vary widely in size (from 2,040 residents served in Woodworth
to 224,129 in Baton Rouge). The average size municipality is 72,545, skewed
somewhat higher than expected because of the inclusion of Baton Rouge.
Fire departments also vary widely in the number of fire line personnel they
employ. Woodworth currently has five fire line employees while Lafayette reports
277. The size of the fire department (as measured by the number of fire line
employees) does increase with the population of the municipality as was the case
with the police sample although the line is not as strong as a fit (Figure 5, R2=0.74).
For a population of its size, Alexandria is expected to have 94 fire line employees;
the city currently has 107.

20 | P a g e
 Figure 5: Number of Fire Line Personnel by Size of
Municipality
300

Number of Fire Line Employees 250 R² = 0.7361

200

150

100

50

0
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000
Municipal Population

Eight municipalities reported their fire rating, and the overwhelming

majority (75%) are a class 2; Woodworth is a class 4 department while Lafayette
is a class 1.
On average, a municipality serves 530 residents per fire line employee; for
Alexandria, that ratio improves to 445 residents for every fire line employee. The
range in residents serves is 260 residents per fire line employee (Monroe) to 938
residents per fire line employee (Hammond).
For the six municipalities that provided data on both the fire department
budget and their total municipal budgets, the average percentage of the total
budget spent to fund fire departments is 15.9% (Figure 6). This is lower the
sample-wide percentage spent on police budgets shown in Figure 3 above
(25.2%). Alexandria currently allocates 19.1% of its municipal budget to fire
expenditures, higher than the sample average for other fire departments but
lower than its allocation to the police department (28.1%).

21 | P a g e
 Figure 6: Average Portion of Total Municipal Budget
Allocated to Fire Department

16%

84%

Fire Budget Total Budget

Of the total fire department budget, 71% on average is dedicated to

salaries and benefits (Figure 7), again less than that set aside for salaries and
benefits in police departments (78%). At present, Alexandria designates 81.4% of
fire department funds to salaries and benefits; for Alexandria Police Department,
this percentage is 84.1%.

Figure 7: Average Percentage of Fire Department Budget

Spent on Salaries and Benefits

29%

71%

Salaries and Benefits Other Expenditures

22 | P a g e
 The average number of calls received by a department in a year is 4,670.
Alexandria reports that it responded to 7,979 more calls during the year, 70.1%
higher than the sample average. Woodworth (370 calls/year) and New Iberia
(700 calls/year) reported significantly fewer calls than the other municipalities,
likely skewing the average number of calls lower than typical, however.
Out of eight respondents, four municipalities reported that they have a
dedicated revenue source that helps fund fire salaries and benefits. Two have a
millage for fire (Hammond and Slidell), and two (Pineville and New Iberia) use a
portion of sales tax for their fire departments. Data points were not available to
compare the departmental budgets of municipalities with a dedicated revenue
source to those without one, but departments with a dedicated revenue service
tend to allocate more of the fire department’s funding to salaries and benefits
(79% on average) than those municipalities that do not (69%).

FIRE DEPARTMENT INCENTIVES

Fifty percent of responding municipalities (n=4) reported that they offered
fire employees incentive pay. Education, hazmat, and EMT certification were the
most common (n=2 for each category); other types of incentive pay offered were
paramedic pay; “Officer 1” and “Instructor 1” pay (Lake Charles); and other, non-
specified (Pineville).
One third of responding municipalities (n=3) stated that the provided
longevity increases beyond those mandated in La. R.S. 33:1992(B) from three to
24 years of service.
Annual hours for fire line employees varied widely (from 1,456 in Pineville to
2,904 in Slidell); the average hours worked is 2,582. Seventy-five percent of
respondents (n=6) reported that they built in overtime to the schedules of fire line
employees.
The average number of annual holidays offered to fire employees by a
municipality is 11; in Alexandria, fire employees receive 10 holidays per year.

23 | P a g e
FIREFIGHTER
Table 22 below shows firefighter base salary for the survey sample. The
average starting salary is $28,166, 15.6% higher than Alexandria’s current starting
salary of $24,366. Woodworth and Pineville are the only regional competitors
included in this sample; their average salary is $25,356. With two data points,
however, an average base salary is less meaningful than it might be with a larger
sample.

Table 22: Firefighter Base Pay for

Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 34,670
Baton Rouge 31,626
Lake Charles 31,566
New Iberia 29,544
Woodworth 28,295
Slidell 27,564
Hammond 26,413
Monroe 25,200
Alexandria 24,366
Pineville 22,416

Average actual firefighter pay is shown in Table 23. Average actual pay is
defined as the annual salary firefighters are currently receiving; it is averaged first
within the municipality and then here for the sample. Among the listed
municipalities, the average actual pay is $29,863 meaning that the average
firefighter makes roughly $1,000 more per year than the average base pay. For
Alexandria, the average firefighter makes $26,191, 14.0% less than the sample
average.

Table 23: Actual Firefighter Pay for

Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Baton Rouge 37,317
Lafayette 37,116
Lake Charles 32,273
Woodworth 31,680
New Iberia 30,479
Hammond 27,177
Alexandria 26,191
Monroe 25,200
Pineville 22,416

24 | P a g e
 While Alexandria Fire Department has not experienced the same level of
turnover as the Alexandria Police Department, firefighters are more significantly
underpaid than police officers both in terms of base salary and actual salary for
the sample here.

FIRE EQUIPMENT OPERATOR

For the class of equipment operator, the average starting salary is $31,515,
10.9% higher than Alexandria’s current base of $28,425 (Table 24).

Table 24: Fire Equipment Operator

Base Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 38,737
Baton Rouge 34,785
Lake Charles 34,740
New Iberia 33,975
Slidell 30,324
Hammond 29,654
Alexandria 28,425
Monroe 28,350
Pineville 24,648

This is a promotional class, however, so base salary is less important than

actual average salary (Table 25). Average actual salary of fire equipment
operators is $39,522, 5.1% higher than Alexandria’s average salary of $37,587.

Table 25: Actual Fire Equipment

Operator Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Baton Rouge 54,019
Lafayette 52,150
Lake Charles 41,776
New Iberia 37,956
Alexandria 37,587
Hammond 35,278
Pineville 29,304
Monroe 28,350

FIRE CAPTAIN
For the class of captain, the average base salary is $35,163, 9.6% higher
than the current base salary of Alexandria (Table 26).

25 | P a g e
 Table 26: Fire Captain Base Pay for
Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 44,838
Baton Rouge 39,533
Lake Charles 39,458
New Iberia 36,930
Slidell 34,452
Alexandria 32,080
Monroe 31,506
Hammond 29,654
Pineville 28,020

Table 27 below shows the actual fire captain salaries of the sample.
Alexandria’s average actual salary is $51,880, 4.5% higher than the sample
average of 49,623.

Table 27: Actual Fire Captain Pay

for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 69,008
Lake Charles 56,609
New Iberia 52,765
Alexandria 51,880
Hammond 47,759
Pineville 37,836
Monroe 31,506

SECOND ASSISTANT CHIEF

As the classes of positions increase in responsibility, the sample size
decreases. For second assistant chief, six data points are available for base
salary. The sample average is 40,836, 11.7% higher than Alexandria’s current base
of $36,549 (Table 28).

26 | P a g e
 Table 28: Second Assistant Chief
Base Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 50,938
Baton Rouge 44,276
Hammond 39,378
Slidell 38,592
Alexandria 36,549
Monroe 35,280

In Table 29 below, the sample shrinks to five data points. Average actual
salary for this group is $66,896 while Alexandria’s average actual salary is $67,732
(1.2% higher than sample).

Table 29: Actual Second Assistant

Chief Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 83,400
Baton Rouge 75,420
Hammond 72,650
Alexandria 67,732
Monroe 35,280

FIRST ASSISTANT CHIEF

Table 30 shows the annual base salaries for the sampled municipalities. The
average base salary is $43,862. At $43,859, Alexandria is right in line with the
sample average.

Table 30: First Assistant Chief Base

Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 59,885
Baton Rouge 47,439
New Iberia 44,316
Alexandria 43,859
Hammond 42,620
Slidell 41,352
Monroe 37,800
Pineville 33,624

27 | P a g e
 For the sample, the average actual salary for first assistant chief had the
largest range of any single class within the fire department (range $37,800-97,905,
Table 31). When considering all data points, the average actual salary is $73,454;
when removing both the highest and lowest data points from calculations, the
average actual salary is $75,694. Alexandria’s average actual salary of $75,866 is
higher than the sample average using both methods of calculation.

Table 31: Actual First Assistant Chief

Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 97,905
Baton Rouge 88,536
Hammond 86,028
Alexandria 75,866
New Iberia 68,722
Pineville 59,316
Monroe 37,800

FIRE CHIEF
Few data points were available for annual base salary for the class of fire
chief. This is likely because the salary for this position is typically directly negotiated
with administration and does not utilize a traditional salary range like the other
civil service positions within the fire department. These data points are provided
in Table 32 for illustrative purposes. The average annual actual salary for fire chief
is $76,971. The sample average is pulled down because of Woodworth’s
extremely low salary relative to the other municipalities. If excluded, the average
climbs to $84,445. Alexandria offers a higher actual salary for its fire chief than the
sample average regardless of method of calculation.

Table 32: Annual Salaries for Fire Chief for All Data Points
Municipality Annual Base Salary Annual Actual Salary
Lake Charles 104,769
Alexandria 88,554
Hammond 49,013 80,750
New Iberia 77,867
Pineville 44,832 70,284
Woodworth 39,600 39,600

28 | P a g e
FIRE TRAINING OFFICER
Table 33 lists the base salary for fire training officer, and the average base
salary is $38,556. Alexandria did not provide a base salary for this class and is,
therefore, not included.

Table 33: Fire Training Officer Base

Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 44,838
Lake Charles 39,458
Hammond 39,378
Slidell 38,760
Monroe 35,280
Pineville 33,624

The average actual salary received by a fire training officer for the sample
is $51,954 (Table 34). Alexandria currently pays its fire training officer $62,676,
20.6% higher than the sample average.

Table 34: Actual Fire Training

Officer Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 62,881
Alexandria 62,676
Baton Rouge 60,182
Lake Charles 53,320
Hammond 46,125
Pineville 43,212
Monroe 35,280

FIRE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

For the class of fire communications officer, the average base pay is
$35,059, 9.3% higher than Alexandria’s current base of $32,080 (Table 35).
According to La. R.S. 33:1992(A), fire communications officers are paid similarly to
fire captains; that is, they must be paid at least 25% higher than firefighters. As
Alexandria’s fire captains were similarly under market averages, these numbers
are not surprising.

29 | P a g e
 Table 35: Fire Communications
Officer Base Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 44,838
Lake Charles 39,465
Slidell 34,452
Alexandria 32,080
Monroe 31,500
Pineville 28,020

For average actual salary for its fire communications officers, however, the
city is once again under market. The average actual salary of the sample is
$43,008, which is 6.4% higher than Alexandria’s current rate (Table 36).

Table 36: Actual Fire Communications

Officer Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 57,941
Baton Rouge 48,608
Lake Charles 44,569
Alexandria 40,416
Pineville 35,016
Monroe 31,500

CHIEF OF FIRE COMMUNICATIONS

For the small sample of municipalities that had a chief of fire
communications and provided data, the average base salary of the class was
$44,969, 2.5% higher than Alexandria’s current base (Table 37).

Table 37: Chief of Fire Communications

Base Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 55,005
Lake Charles 44,200
Slidell 43,980
Alexandria 43,859
Monroe 37,800

While not quite as large as the range in actual salaries for the class of first
assistant chief, the range in pay for chief of fire communications is substantial (a

30 | P a g e
spread of $51,753). The average for this small sample is 62,005, 23.7% higher than
Alexandria’s current rate of pay, which is shown in Table 38.

Table 38: Actual Chief of Fire

Communications Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 89,553
Lake Charles 70,532
Alexandria 50,133
Monroe 37,800

FIRE PREVENTION OFFICER

Among the five municipalities that reported base salary data for the class
of fire prevention, Alexandria ranks last with a base salary of $32,080, 11.6% less
than the average base salary of $35,798 (Table 39).

Table 39: Fire Prevention Officer Base

Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lake Charles 39,458
Hammond 39,378
Slidell 34,452
Pineville 33,624
Alexandria 32,080

Alexandria also ranks last in actual pay for the class of fire prevention officer
(Table 40). At $40,568, Alexandria’s actual annual salary is 25.2% less than the
sample average of $50,799.

Table 40: Actual Fire Prevention Officer

Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
New Iberia 63,965
Pineville 55,320
Lake Charles 51,022
Hammond 43,119
Alexandria 40,568

31 | P a g e
CHIEF OF FIRE PREVENTION
For the class of chief of fire prevention, Alexandria again falls short (3.4%) of
the market average of $45,329 (Table 41).

Table 41: Chief of Fire Prevention Base

Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 55,005
Lake Charles 47,362
Alexandria 43,859
Hammond 42,620
Monroe 37,800

In terms of actual pay, however, Alexandria rates above the market

average of $64,670 by 15.2% (Table 42).

Table 42: Actual Chief of Fire Prevention

Pay for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Lafayette 89,553
Alexandria 74,501
Lake Charles 62,058
Hammond 59,436
Monroe 37,800

DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

There are only two data points for this class, one of which is the city of
Alexandria. The data are included here for reference in Table 43, but not
comparisons are made. No minimum salary for the class was provided by
Alexandria as this position is likely treated the same way that the fire chief position
is (without a stated pay range).

Table 43: Annual Salaries for Director of EMS for All Data Points
Municipality Annual Base Salary Annual Actual Salary
Pineville 33,624 46,116
Alexandria -- 55,000

32 | P a g e
FIRE RECORDS CLERK
Of the five municipalities included in the sample for the class of fire records
clerk, Alexandria ranks fifth in starting salary, 15.0% less than the sample average
of $26,026 (Table 44).

Table 44: Fire Records Clerk Base Pay

for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Monroe 33,720
Slidell 27,588
Lake Charles 23,317
Lafayette 22,880
Alexandria 22,626

Alexandria’s fire records clerks are also among the lowest paid in the
sample when comparing actual salaries (Table 45). The city’s fire records clerks
make 33.5% less than the sample average of $32,446.

Table 45: Actual Fire Records Clerk Pay

for Full Sample
Municipality Annual Salary
Baton Rouge 44,261
New Iberia 41,995
Monroe 33,720
Lake Charles 26,624
Alexandria 24,304
Lafayette 23,770

SECRETARY TO THE FIRE CHIEF

Table 46 gives all data points for both starting salary and actual salary for
the class of secretary to the fire chief. Like a handful of other positions within the
fire department, there are few points of comparison for base salary for this class.
As with these other positions, it is assumed this salary is negotiated without the use
of a set pay range.

33 | P a g e
 The average actual salary for this class is $41,513. At present, there is no
incumbent in the class of secretary to the fire chief in Alexandria Fire Department.
The data point provided is presumably for the former incumbent of the position.

Table 46: Annual Salaries for Secretary to the Fire Chief for All
Data Points
Municipality Annual Base Salary Annual Actual Salary
Baton Rouge 60,838
Lake Charles 33,072 43,076
Pineville 28,020 42,168
Alexandria 34,299
New Iberia 27,184

34 | P a g e
CONCLUSIONS
The city of Alexandria requested a salary survey because it feared it was
behind market for salaries of its police and fire employees. Tables 47 and 48,
which consolidate the pertinent information from the previous sections,
demonstrate that both departments are, in fact, underpaid in most classes
relative to the sampled municipalities and law enforcement agencies. In Tables
47 and 48, red numbers indicate the percentage that Alexandria lags the market
while green numbers indicate the percentage that Alexandria leads the market.
For APD, base and average actual salary numbers are broken down by regional
percentages and full sample percentages where available. Blank boxes indicate
insufficient data.

Table 47: Percent Difference of Alexandria’s Rate of Pay From the Sample
Average, for Police Classes
Base Salary Actual Average Salary
Regional Full Sample Regional Full Sample
Police Officer 2.5% 4.0% 16.8% 13.8%
Corporal 5.5% 4.6% 6.4% 10.1%
Sergeant 6.8% 4.0% 15.2% 5.3%
Lieutenant 16.9% 5.6%
Captain
Assistant Chief 23.1% 8.0%
Chief 4.0% 3.9%
Jailer 30.0% 20.6%
Police Communications Officer 15.1% 27.2%
Secretary to the Chief 18.5%
Police Records Clerk 4.8% 2.1%

At the class of police officer, base salary is 2.5-4.0% behind the market, and
employees in the class as a whole tend to be underpaid compared to their
counterparts. To address these issues, starting pay should be increased by at least
2.5% but ideally more to stay in line with the market average. Increases should
continue for police officers in years one through four to maintain competitiveness
and reduce further attrition.
While the promise of a promotion at five years of service should give
Alexandria a competitive edge over agencies that do not maintain the class of
police corporal, the actual average salary received by corporals is not sufficient
enough to encourage employees to continue their employment with APD.
Increasing pay for years five to 14 in line with the full sample (only three regional
competitors reported a matching police corporal class) should improve retention
rates at this class.

35 | P a g e
 Raising police officer and police corporal pay should improve APD’s
relation to market for the classes of sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and assistant
chief.
Although emphasis has been placed on improving pay for the uniformed
divisions, two of the support classes showed significant issues with base and actual
average salaries. Starting salary for jailers was an alarming 30% behind market,
and police communications officers were 15.1% behind market. It is
recommended that improvement to the base salaries of these classes be made
as well.

Table 48: Percent Difference of Alexandria’s Rate

of Pay from the Sample Average, for Fire Classes
Actual
Base
Average
Salary
Salary
Firefighter 15.6% 14.0%
Fire Equipment Operator 10.9% 5.1%
Fire Captain 9.6% 4.5%
2nd Assistant Chief 11.7% 1.2%
1st Assistant Chief 0% 0.2%
Fire Chief 4.9%
Fire Training Officer 20.6%
Fire Communications Officer 9.3% 6.4%
Chief of Fire Communications 2.5% 23.7%
Fire Prevention Officer 11.6% 25.2%
Chief of Fire Prevention 3.4% 15.2%
Director of EMS
Fire Records Clerk 15.0% 33.5%
Secretary to the Chief

In the Alexandria Fire Department, there are three fire line classes that are
behind market average salary. Based on the survey results, starting salary for
firefighters is 15.6% under market. Like the police officers, this deficit lasts the entire
time an employee remains in the class of firefighter. It is recommended that
starting pay for this class be increased, and pay for all other incumbents of this
class adjusted accordingly. Fire equipment operators are currently 5.1% behind
actual average salary while fire captains are 4.5% behind. Adjusting firefighter
pay should correct both of these issues. In order to prevent cost inflation,
however, rank differentials should be decreased to mirror the minimums outlined
in La. R.S. 33:1992.

36 | P a g e
 In the support classes, attention should be paid to the class of chief of fire
communications, fire prevention officer, and fire records clerk. The city of
Alexandria may choose to adjust these ranks individually per market rates;
another possibility is to align the pay ranges of chief of fire communications and
fire prevention officer with existing pay ranges that could minimize these and
future discrepancies; for example, the pay range for the chief of fire
communications could be matched to the pay range for second assistant chief,
and the pay range for fire training officer could be matched to that of fire
captains and fire communications officers, whose ranges are set by La. R.S.
33:1992. Fire records clerks fell 15.0% behind market in starting salary and
continued to be underpaid compared to their counterparts throughout their
tenure in that class. It is also recommended that pay for this class be increased.
Tables 47 and 48 confirm what the city of Alexandria expected: both the
police and fire departments are underpaid in most classes compared to the
sample. Not only is Alexandria behind in terms of base and average actual salary,
it fails to compete with some of its regional competitors that offer benefits, such
as paying the employee portion of retirement contributions and medical
insurance.
To effectively stem the challenges of recruitment and retention, the pay
matrices for both departments should be revised using the guidance of the
aforementioned paragraphs. With this next phase of the project, APD and AFD
should have the tools necessary to fully staff their departments and improve their
oversight of the city’s safety operations.

37 | P a g e
APPENDIX A: LIST OF PARTICIPATING MUNICIPALITIES AND AGENCIES

POLICE SAMPLE
City of Alexandria
City of Baton Rouge
City of Bossier City
City of Hammond
City of Houma
City of Lafayette
City of Lake Charles
City of Monroe
City of New Iberia
City of Pineville
City of Slidell
Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office
Louisiana State University-Alexandria
Northwestern State University
Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office
Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office
Town of Woodworth

FIRE SAMPLE
City of Alexandria
City of Baton Rouge
City of Hammond
City of Lafayette
City of Lake Charles
City of Monroe
City of New Iberia
City of Pineville
City of Slidell
Town of Woodworth

The city of Kenner and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office submitted data after
the deadline and were not included in the analysis.

38 | P a g e
APPENDIX B: POLICE CLASS DESCRIPTIONS
For police departments overseen by OSE, class specifications were compared to
determine whether the duties and responsibilities were a sufficient match to those of the
city of Alexandria’s classifications. These class specifications were accessed on OSE’s
website on March 22, 2021, using the current class specification for each municipality.
Below are the primary duties and responsibilities for each class.

POLICE OFFICER
Patrols the city or an assigned part thereof and investigates irregular conditions and
circumstances and suspicious persons and their activities. Directs traffic and investigates
traffic accidents. Makes reports as needed. Answers questions for and assists the public.
Typically reports to a sergeant.

POLICE CORPORAL
Protects and safeguards life and property within the community. May work alone or in
company with another officer. Makes regular patrols, directs traffic, and investigates
accidents and crimes. Works mostly independently in most areas involving routine tasks.
Reports to a sergeant.

POLICE SERGEANT
Assists in the supervision of police patrol and traffic regulatory activities or for the
performance of special duties of comparable responsibility. Frequently participates in
work performed by subordinate officers and assumes complete charge in the event of
the absence of a superior officer. First-line supervisory work. Typically reports to a
lieutenant.

POLICE LIEUTENANT
Acts as shift commander for law enforcement operations of the department or other
duties assigned by the department. Oversees the work of all subordinate employees on
an assigned shift. Supervises the preparation and maintenance of shift records and
reports. Supervises and performs patrol functions, traffic control and accident
investigations, and criminal investigations. Reporting relationship varies.

ASSISTANT POLICE CHIEF

Assists the police chief in the operation of one police department service, division, or
function. Determines how to organize assigned services of the department. Assists the
police chief in short- and long-range planning of departmental programs and activities,
in research and development of departmental policies, and preparing the departmental
budget. Reporting relationship varies.

POLICE CHIEF
Directs the organization and administration of the department, law enforcement
activities, supervision of all department personnel, for financial planning and budgeting
of funds, recordkeeping, public relations, and care and maintenance of depart property
and equipment. Reports to the mayor or similar.

39 | P a g e
POLICE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
Operates communications equipment, keeps records, answers police telephones,
dispatches police units, and notifies repair crew or supervisor of any malfunctioning
equipment. Reporting relationship varies.

JAILER
Admits and releases prisoners. Completes forms and related records. Performs initial
inventory of property and initial search and sanitary procedures for the admission of
prisoners. Supervises the daily activity of prisoners. Performs duties necessary for the
proper feeding, housing, and medical attention of inmates. Maintains prison facilities.
Reporting relationship varies.

SECRETARY TO POLICE CHIEF

Performs clerical work arising out of the police chief’s office. Takes and transcribes
dictation and types correspondence from rough draft. Acts as clerical assistant to the
chief. Examines reports for completeness and accuracy. Reports to the police chief.

POLICE RECORDS CLERK

Maintains office records. Revises filing system for records when needed. Checks records
and reports for accuracy. Answers telephone, routes calls, and gives out routine
information. Interviews callers. Reporting relationship varies.

40 | P a g e
APPENDIX C: FIRE CLASS DESCRIPTIONS
For fire departments overseen by OSE, class specifications were compared to determine
whether the duties and responsibilities were a sufficient match to those of the city of
Alexandria’s classifications. These class specifications were accessed on OSE’s website
on March 23, 2021, using the current class specification for each municipality. Below are
the primary duties and responsibilities for each class.

FIREFIGHTER
Entry-level position in the classified firefighting division of fire department operations.
Receive training and participates in training drills. Completes tasks such as controlling
and extinguishing fires, performing rescue work, maintaining the fire station and its
grounds, performing public relations duties such as calming citizens at a fire scene or
conducting station tours. Typically reports to Fire Captain or equivalent.

Municipalities with equivalent classes:

FIRE EQUIPMENT OPERATOR

Drives and operates fire department vehicles and apparatus; extinguishes and prevents
spread of fires; performs routine maintenance and custodial work on departmental
vehicles, equipment, station and grounds. Typically reports to Fire Captain or equivalent.

FIRE CAPTAIN
Directs activities of a fire company; performs fire prevention work; trains and drills other
employees in methods of firefighting, use of equipment, and prevention. Performs
general supervisory work of firefighters and fire equipment operators. Typically reports to
a Second Assistant Chief, District Chief, or equivalent.

SECOND ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF

Manages the operation of one fire district on an assigned shift. Makes inspections of
stations and evaluates operational effectiveness. Purchases equipment and supplies
required by the district. Responds to all alarms or emergency calls for the assigned
district. Investigates causes, origins, and circumstances of fires in district. Supervises
assigned department employees. Oversees the preparation and maintenance of
records and reports for the district. Typically reports to an Assistant Chief or equivalent.

FIRST ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF

Assists in the planning and organization of department activities, assists in the
management of personnel, supervises the preparation and maintenance of shift records,
and performs assigned public relations duties. Manages operation of assigned fire
department administrative functions. Authorizes expenditures of funds. Assists with
preparation of annual budget and payroll. Participates in research and planning
activities for the department. Works with boards, agencies, legislators, and other groups
to determine if changes to department policies or procedures are needed.

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FIRE CHIEF
Oversees and directs the operation of the fire department. Develops management
policies, determines goals and objectives for the department. Plans and directs
operations with respect to personnel, equipment, and apparatus. Oversees department
personnel, financial planning and budgeting of funds; information management; public
relations; and the care and maintenance of department property and equipment.
Reports to the governing authority, Commissioner of Public Safety, or similar.

FIRE PREVENTION OFFICER

Conducts fire inspections, enforces life safety codes, and conducts investigations of fires
suspected to be the result of arson. Writes fire inspection reports and keeps related
records. Inspects buildings and collects information to be used to determine whether
buildings comply with fire safety codes. Acts as liaison with law enforcement or other
arson investigation agencies to exchange information on major investigations. Reports to
the Director of Fire Prevention or, in some cases, the Fire Chief.

CHIEF OF FIRE PREVENTION

Serves as an administrative and supervisory position. Organizes and directs the
department’s fire prevention program, including fire inspections, fire investigations, and
public fire education. Supervises subordinate personnel and maintains division records.
Reports to the Fire Chief or, in some cases, the Deputy Fire Chief or similar.

FIRE TRAINING OFFICER

Develops a training program, assembles training materials, and serves as an instructor for
training courses. Evaluates employees’ performance during training and maintains
records of training. Reporting relationship varies.

DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

Assists the Fire Chief in monitoring EMS programs, policies and procedures. Observes,
documents, and reviews all aspects of EMS operations, including personnel matters,
equipment, and public relations. Provides regular employee training. Oversees
recordkeeping of the division. Prepares, submits, and oversees spending of divisional
operating budget.

FIRE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

Answers telephones, enters pertinent information into computer, and dispatches correct
units to emergencies following departmental procedures. Relays messages via office
paging or intercom system. Uses CAD display to monitor location and status of
emergency units at all times. Tests equipment per office procedures. Compiles data for
reports. Reports to the division chief or, in some cases, the Fire Chief.

CHIEF OF FIRE COMMUNICATIONS

Plans, organizes, assigns and directs operations of the Fire Communications division.
Ensures dispatching operations are performed in accordance with established
departmental procedures and policies. Supervises the operation of the communications,
including CAD. Oversees the preparation and maintenance of division records and
reports. Supervises testing of division equipment. Reports to the Deputy Fire Chief or Fire
Chief.

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SECRETARY TO THE FIRE CHIEF
Acts as receptionist to visitors to the Fire Chief’s office. Answers phones and directs visitors
and calls. Schedules appointments and maintains calendar of events for the Fire Chief.
Receives, reviews, and processes the Fire Chief’s mail. Types letters, forms, reports, and
other documents assigned by the Fire Chief. Attends meetings to take minutes or notes.
Sets up and maintains a filing system for the Fire Chief’s office. Prepares departmental
payroll records. Assists the Fire Chief with preparation of the departmental budget.
Reports to the Fire Chief.

FIRE RECORDS CLERK

Receives department records and reports and checks them for completeness,
accuracy, and conformity to established procedures and enters them into the computer.
Performs routine typing and filing duties. Answers phones and transfers callers or answers
inquiries as required. Reporting relationship varies.

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APPENDIX D: DEFINITIONS

Average Also known as the mean, calculated by dividing the same of

the values in a set by their number

Average Actual Salary Average salary of the sample, calculated by dividing the sum
of the reported average salary received by incumbents of a
class by the number of reporting agencies

Base Salary Used interchangeably with starting salary, the lowest possible
rate of pay for a particular class

n Number in the population

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