45°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Follow our weather team on social media

No raise yet for Baker's new police chief

7 years 8 months 2 weeks ago Friday, July 01 2016 Jul 1, 2016 July 01, 2016 6:43 PM July 01, 2016 in News
Source: WBRZ

BAKER- City council members aren't sure if they'll try again to get their new police chief a pay raise.

"It's all up in the air at this point," Councilman Charles Vincent said Friday. "But we are hopeful that everything will work out."

The new chief Charles Dunn is starting his job at a significantly lower pay-scale than his predecessor Mike Knapps. Dunn will be paid $62,000 a year plus benefits compared to Knaps who was making $83,000 after ten years as chief.

"The truth is I could do this job for $5000 a year, I would even pay $5000 a year to do this job," said Dunn.

Last week the council voted to pay Dunn $85,000 but outgoing mayor Harold Rideau vetoed the hike Thursday night. Baker's city attorney Ken Fabre said the raise may have been illegal since it bypasses its employee pay schedule.

"The former employees of Baker's police department and perhaps the police union would feel they have grounds to file a lawsuit and I would agree with that," said Fabre.

Baker's pay-scale has been in place for years, it covers all city employees. Dunn will start at the beginning pay for a new chief.

Fabre is seeking guidance from the Attorney General's office about giving Dunn a raise.

More News

Desktop News

Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Radar
7 Days