Officers at the KU Public Safety Office may soon see an increase in their salaries.

If the Board of Regents allows classified employees to be removed from the State Civil Service, classified employees at the KU Public Safety Office would be governed by the University and eligible for salary and merit raises. Police officers, security officers and dispatchers are employees of the office.

“Compared to the private sector, our salaries in all three categories are below normal,” Ralph Oliver, director of KU Public Safety Office, said. “Especially for police officers.”

Lower and non-competitive salaries are the main reasons the KU Public Safety Office has had a problem with retaining officers, Oliver said. Salaries for officers in surrounding areas are between 20 percent to 25 percent higher than the KU Public Safety Office.

These higher salaries attract younger officers away from the KU Public Safety Office, resulting in a high turnover rate, Oliver said.

“To a young officer, an increase like that is attractive,” he said.

The starting annual salary for an officer at the KU Public Safety Office, a classified state employee, is about $28,724.

Comparatively, the average starting salary for a police officer at the Lawrence Police Department is $36,670 per year. Sgt. Dan Ward of the Lawrence Police Department said that the department had hired a few officers in the past who came from the KU Public Safety Office, but he didn’t know if it was because of an increase in salary specifically.

To prevent such a high turnover rate, KU Public Safety officers are given a 5 percent incentive in addition to their salaries.

Hopefully Senate Bill 74 will eliminate this retention incentive and instead become part of the officers’ salaries, Oliver said.

“Then we’ll be able to attract good quality people versus people who meet the minimum requirements,” he said.

Oliver wasn’t sure if the bill would allow the Public Safety Office to hire more officers, but added that he was more concerned with hiring more dispatchers and security officers.