The officers that are seen patrolling the metal detectors and corridors of the Capitol Hill complex are earning some of the best pay and benefits in the business. A new government report shows that the US Capitol Capitol Police, or USCP, provides top-shelf pay when officers sign up and top-shelf benefits when they retire.
Although the union is pushing for more improvements, the GAO noted that so far, those officers are making out all right. Starting salary for the police starts at $56,000. The benefits are even better. Officers can retire at age 50 provided they’ve worked at least 20 years. Those who work for 25 years can make, on average, about $39,000 a year in retirement pay, not counting Social Security and money from a 401(k)-style plan that federal workers have.
“These enhanced benefits allow their officers to retire early and accrue retirement pensions faster than other federal police forces,” the report said. Fox News
The GAO also compared Capitol Police benefits with those of nine other federal forces. The only other force with starting pay at the same level is the Supreme Court Police. But the Secret Service Uniformed Division and Pentagon Police — have lower starting salaries. Yet the lowest, for the National Institutes of Health Police, is about $39,000. But it gets even better when comparing salaries, as the USCP pay is well above the starting salary for a member of the Washington, D.C., city police force — that paycheck is $48,716. Fox News
Also the USCP starting pay is more than twice what recent college graduates have been earning lately. A Rutgers study last year found college grads entering the workforce in 2009 and 2010 were earning a median starting salary of $27,000. The excuse for the higher pay is because capitol police have more duties. Officers protect members of Congress but also patrol the congressional buildings and parkland. They handle traffic duties and respond to suspicious packages, and they provide protective service for lawmakers’ family members.
Any investigative duties are usually sent to the city’s Metropolitan Police Department for the very serious offenses. According to an MPD document, Capitol Police handles criminal investigations on Capitol grounds, except in the case of homicides and serious sex offenses — those are taken over by the MPD, with Capitol Police assisting.
So this prompted the GAO to push for changes after the union wanted to increase benefits.
Under current policy, the police force requires officers in most cases to retire at 57. The union wants to raise that to 60 so some officers can work longer if they wish.
The GAO said that would have a “minimal impact” on costs while increasing the officers’ retirement. But the Office of Personnel Management called the move “unnecessary,” saying the officers’ healthy benefits make retirement at 57 “economically feasible.”
Labor Committee Chairman Jim Konczos said his group was “dismayed” by that finding. “We were very shocked that OPM came back and said that it wasn’t necessary,” he said. He said the union will continue to push for raising the mandatory age, and changing up the pay scale so rank-and-file officers get bigger raises faster. Fox News
