FMPD officers may quit because of paychecks

FORT MYERS, Fla. – WINK News is staying on top of a pressing story that could affect your safety.

Just weeks ago, nearly two dozen Fort Myers firefighters lost their jobs and now we’re learning police could also be on their way out.

“You are going to lose more officers,” said recently retired Fort Myers Police Sgt. Sean Hoover.

Hoover tells WINK News the morale within the department, due to the lack of pay for experienced officers, is terrible. Wednesday, the city denied a plan to pay up.

“You have officers there that have been there five, six years. Officers that are making the same as, if not less than, new officers that are coming in to the department,” said Hoover.

Hoover didn’t retire because of pay reasons, but says many officers now plan to leave and that could affect your safety.

“The turnover rate is three times higher than it was last year at this same time of the year,” said police union president Matt Sellers.

Sellers says FMPD and city leaders denied a proposal to start funding the forces pay plan for experienced officers.

Sellers says the pay scale hasn’t adjusted properly for the last five years.

“When they signed on, they thought they would receive their pay increases and they haven’t,” he said.

An anonymous poll shows that 40 percent of Fort Myers officers would quit if their pay isn’t raised. Fort Myers police say since January, 10 officers have resigned, two have retired and another two were fired.

“They can find work elsewhere and make more money going in, making more as a brand new officer at another department after putting in service for five years to the citizens of Fort Myers. And that is unbelievable and unheard of, something needs to be done about it,” said Hoover.

Sellers says he’s staying optimistic that the department will have a decent counter offer by the end of July.

FMPD would not comment for our story.