Paying for Protection
Lawmakers wants to close the gap in pay among federal law enforcement officers.
On Tuesday, Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-Va., introduced legislation that would require the Office of Personnel Management to study disparities in pay and benefits among law enforcement officers at various federal agencies.
"On one hand, it is impossible to address 'adequate compensation' for people who put their lives on the line for the American public every day; there is no proper monetary reward for such work," Davis said during a July hearing on the issue. "But at the same time, we must recognize that members of the FBI, Border Patrol, Customs and Immigration, Secret Service, and all our other federal law enforcement agencies, do not live and work in a monetary vacuum."
Davis, who is chairwoman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization, introduced the bill after witnesses testified that various federal agencies were facing problems recruiting and retaining law enforcement officers. In June, the General Accounting Office released a report showing that hundreds of law enforcement officers in the Washington area quit their jobs to join the Transportation Security Administration during fiscal 2002. The report focused on turnover at 13 Washington-area federal law enforcement agencies.
"As our hearing showed, the federal government is facing a serious problem in keeping our valuable law enforcement officers, and in many areas, we are not competitive with local forces in the search for new talent," Davis said. "As a first step, we must have the Office of Personnel Management conduct a detailed analysis of the problem and offer some recommendations as to fixing the problem."
Under the 2003 Federal Law Enforcement Pay and Benefits Parity Act (H.R. 3205), OPM would be required to study the classification, compensation and benefits of federal law enforcement officers, and then recommend remedies if disparities in pay are found. The bill also calls for an employee exchange program among federal, state and local law enforcement officers. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, introduced similar legislation in the Senate.
Another bill pending in Congress, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Pay Equity and Reform Act (H.R. 1676) would lift the cap on overtime for federal law enforcement officers and boost special pay rates for agents in large metropolitan areas, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. The bill was introduced in March by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a former FBI agent.
Currently, OPM is gathering information about law enforcement duties and salaries as it works with Homeland Security Department officials to develop a personnel system for that department.