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Advocacy group urges council to raise police pay and add 400 officers to meet city needs
Summary
Citizens for a Safe and Secure Raleigh asked the council to increase police pay to lead the region and to add roughly 400 officers over four to five years, citing a 2020 staffing study and comparative salary figures.
John Sequeira, executive director of Citizens for a Safe and Secure Raleigh, urged the council to approve a budget that raises Raleigh Police Department salaries to be the region’s highest and to fund about 400 additional officers over the next four to five years.
Sequeira cited a 2020 city staffing study that he said recommended roughly 400 additional personnel and argued that recruitment and retention are tied to pay. He told the council the starting salary for a Raleigh police officer is $55,000 and said Cary and Apex start officers at just over $60,000; he added that the average officer salary in Charlotte is “roughly $20,000 more” than Raleigh’s, per his remarks.
Sequeira said longer response times and fewer proactive patrols are the result of being understaffed and urged the council to make police pay a top budgetary priority. He also said a public poll showed 75% support for a substantial police pay increase.
The transcript records his public comment and comparative figures cited; the record does not show any council decision, staff response or vote during the public-comment segment.
