This is the first of three installments. Hospital and K-12 school/school district survey results will appear on CampusSafetyMagazine.com in the next two weeks.
First the good news: according to the latest Salary Survey and Industry Census from Campus Safety magazine, the median pay rates for most university, hospital and K-12 school police chiefs, security directors, sworn police officers and nonsworn officers have not gone down in the past four years. They have remained steady from 2007 to the present.
Now the bad news: The average annual rate of inflation from 2007-2010 was 2 percent.
Therefore, in real dollars, the compensation rates of most campus protection professionals have actually decreased.
Police Chiefs/Security Directors: The median annual rate of pay for campus police chiefs/security directors remains the same at $75,000, but we are seeing greater disparities in pay. Nineteen percent make more than $110,000 per year. That is eight points more than in 2009 (11 percent). On the low end of the pay scale, 20 percent make $50,000 or less, which is four points more than in 2009 (16 percent).
Sworn Officers: Nationwide, the median starting salary for sworn officers is $32,500, which matches the survey results from 2007-2009. Despite this, starting salaries for sworn officers in the South rose from $27,500 in 2009 to $32,500 in 2011. In the West they remained the same as two years ago: $42,500. Overall, 29 percent of campus sworn officers now make more than $40,000, which is four percentage points more than in 2009.
Nonsworn Officers: The median starting salary for nonsworn offi cers is $23,500, which matched the median rate in previous surveys. On the bright side, the average is $24,127, which is nearly 5 percent more than in 2009. More than two out of five (44 percent) university nonsworn officers now make more than $25,000. That is eight percentage points more than in 2009 (36 percent).
Hospitals, on the other hand, did not experience an increase in pay for their new nonsworn officers. In fact, they saw a decrease even when the 2 percent annual rate of inflation is not considered. Thirty-seven percent make $22,000 or less. That is five percentage points more than in 2009. The number of officers making more than $25,000 decreased from 38 percent in 2009 to 32 percent in 2011.
Novice K-12 nonsworn officers saw an increase in pay. One in three (33 percent) currently make $22,000 or less, compared to 42 percent in 2009. The percentage of K-12 wage earners who make more than $25,000 increased from 36 percent in 2009 to 38 percent in 2011.
About the Survey and Data
The latest Campus Safety salary survey was conducted in July and August of
2011, and 629 campus protection professionals participated. Invitations to
take the poll were sent via E-mail. There is a +3.8 percent margin of error at
a 95 percent confi dence level. Other statistics are from CS’ 2010 “How Safe
Is Your Campus?” Survey and 2011 Emergency Preparedness Survey.
