SAN ANTONIO — A pay raise means an uptick in recruitment, according to Sheriff Javier Salazar, who says the Bexar County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) is seeing more interest after a historic vote from county leaders earlier this month that increased pay for deputies by an average of 9%.
"We are already starting to see the pendulum move for us in a positive direction," the sheriff said. "We are starting to see an uptick."
County commissioners unanimously approved the raise at the start of the month, after Salazar said the goal was to recruit and retain more BCSO personnel. The current minimum salary for law enforcement officers is $58,704, but will increase to $61,500. For cadets working at the county jail, their starting salary will jump to $45,000, up from $41,964.
"The pay raise makes us competitive with other agencies puts us up to market," Salazar said.
Salazar said that, since the vote, they have noticed big interest.
"The anticipation of that pay raise coming, new positions coming, so at present it seems that everything is aligning the right way," he said. "As we speak right now, I have got a stack of applicant files to sign off on that has become the norm. It used to be I was lucky to see five or six applicant files every couple of weeks. This past couple of days, they've been putting piles of 8, 10, 12 on my desk."
The sheriff said there are 250 vacancies. Besides the pay increase, he says the new Straight to the Streets program will help fill the need.
"They can bypass the jail and test directly into the law enforcement tier," he said.
The first class for Straight to the Streets will start in the next couple of weeks.
"Folks need to know we are as close to full staffing (as) we can get at this point," he said.
Upcoming recruitment events
The raise goes into effect at the end of the month. On Saturday, BCSO will hold a career fair at the YMCA at TriPoint (3233 North St. Mary's). Exams begin at 9 a.m.
The sheriff's office is targeting high school students too. Its first Career Camp, also happening Saturday, will take place at 207 North Comal. It starts at 10 a.m. and goes until noon.
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