The union said the goal of the salary increases was to be more competitive with pay "in an effort to boost our dangerously low officer staffing levels" at SEPTA. It is slightly less than the . SEPTA is a state agency, but its ridership is overwhelmingly from Philly. This number represents the median, which is the midpoint of the ranges from our proprietary Total Pay Estimate model and based on salaries collected from our users. Riders of SEPTAs Market-Frankford Line have complained on social media of rampant disorder: smoking, open use of IV drugs, and human waste and garbage in stations and on trains. An investigation was handled jointly by PPD's Special Victims Unit and SEPTA Transit Police, who reviewed surveillance footage to help identify Adams. But the overtime money was not distributed equally, with fully half of all OT payments going to just 800 employees, or less than 10% of SEPTAs 9,200-strong workforce. Changes in the transit police pay scale will go into effect as early as Sunday, the agency said. SEPTA ridership has not yet recovered from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, which greatly reduced the number of workers relying on transit in favor of remote work. Date: October 25, 2020. in: Breaking News, Civil Rights, Sacramento Region. Bervine said this is about $10,000 less than where Philadelphia Police Department recruits start and roughly $15,000 below the starting salaries earned by NJ Transit police and officers with the Delaware River Port Authority. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Get your daily rundown of Philly happenings in less than 10 minutes, Philadelphia local news: Neighborhoods, politics, food, and fun, Get Philly smart with BPs free daily newsletter. Philadelphia City Councilman David Oh has lately pressured SEPTA to make the changes necessary to fill out its transit police force. With more online . First published on June 15, 2022 / 5:00 AM. Amid a public outcry about increased crime and antisocial behavior on the region's public transit system and difficulty recruiting and hiring candidates for SEPTA's police force, the transit agency has agreed to raise starting pay for officers a stunning 25%. The authoritys budget allows for up to 260 officers. Nestel referred all questions to SEPTA public relations. That incident happened around 7th and Market streets, police said. Press Tab to Move to Skip to Content Link, SEPTA Transit Police Officer (0007) - 1234 Market, Recruitment Department is currently accepting applications for the position of Transit Police Officer. One SEPTA police officer doubled his salary and made almost as much as the mayor of Philadelphia. He said officials response in the past had often been to blame a few bad apples and move on. Oh said the problem wasn't the position but the pay. But workers like Berardi handle sensitive maintenance on SEPTAs Market-Frankford Line cars. Tensions over the state of security on SEPTA appear to be reaching a head. PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The union for SEPTA's transit police has sent a third letter to the agency's board chairman and general manager about the need to hire more officers. SEPTA Police Chief Thomas J. Nestel III's best estimate was there were about 10 passengers in the close vicinity of Ngoy and the woman during the rape, which started about 9:52 p.m. and ended. Equal parts funny and fascinating, Bullseye sifts the wheat from the chaff, and brings you hot culture picks, in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary creative people and irreverent original comedy. Compensation. Kenneth Kriz, director of the Institute for Illinois Public Finance at the University of Illinois at Springfield, said these were common yet harmful phenomena at public agencies. One involved a man punching a SEPTA maintenance worker and the other is wanted for stabbing a teen after a fight on a train spilled onto the platform. The SEPTA Transit Police Department was founded in 1981. He also underscored that this weeks arrest of frontline manager Ryan Kappler, who was dismissed in January, reflected SEPTAs commitment to rooting out overtime fraud. It's a move SEPTA hopes will attract new employees. That program got some unwanted attention last summer, when there were two reports within a few weeks of security guards assaulting individuals at transit stations. All rights reserved. Under the agreement, both new recruits and officers already on the force will see a pay hike. The TWU Local 234 union that represents SEPTA personnel called for Nestels resignation over a year ago, after an attack on a SEPTA employee. Average SEPTA Police Officer yearly pay in Philadelphia is approximately $50,000, which is 8% below the national average. "The problem is not that people dont want to be police officers. "SEPTA transit police will be in stations and on vehicles ensuring that those who are traveling have good reason to be on the system," a SEPTA official said on Tuesday. Transit police at the 69th Street bus depot in March 2021, What we know about the El train that derailed overnight in Old City, Pay for your SEPTA ride with a tap of your phone, and take your friends along, Amtrak promises 30th Streets iconic flipboard will return, but (still) only as decoration, 4 ways to have more fun getting around Philly, Phillys hot podcast studio: How two longtime producers are growing the citys audio scene, Meet the 10 entrepreneurs vying set up shop inside Philly rec centers, Tax cuts, a new forensic lab, library service, hotspot help: Takeaways from Mayor Kenneys final city budget proposal, A real art project at Quinta Brunsons former school in West Philly mirrors the Abbott Elementary Mural Arts episode. The department is already stretched thin, the transit police union says. This isnt a `rank-and-file issue. Then, in October 1978, following a string of attacks on SEPTA personnel, the authority started renting police academy rookies from the city several dozen individuals known as the SEPTA Strike Force. These units receive an additional level of training and provide specialized support in policing a public transit system. It's been difficult to recruit people to join. The officers union has long pressed that case to management. Some riders question if this is the best way to do that. Septa employees attributed a compensation and benefits rating of 4.1/5 stars to their company. Thanks for your tweet and service to the city. Earlier this year, a SEPTA officer was shot by a suspect near the Franklin Arrott Transportation Center in Philadelphia, sustaining injuries that landed him in the hospital in critical but stable condition. They would like to see more programs with that mindset implemented systemwide not just pilots, and not at select stations. (function() {var phplive_e_1497314496 = document.createElement("script"); phplive_e_1497314496.type = "text/javascript"; phplive_e_1497314496.async = true; phplive_e_1497314496.src = "https://customerservice.septa.org/chat/js/phplive_v2.js.php?v=0|1497314496|2|"; document.getElementById("phplive_btn_1497314496").appendChild( phplive_e_1497314496 );})(); Copyright 2023 SEPTA. Reporters Ryan Briggs with WHYYs PlanPhilly and Michaela Winberg with WHYYs Billy Penn uncovered this troubling pattern, which stands in stark relief next to SEPTAs recent statement it cant afford to pay additional death benefits to families of workers who died of COVID-19. 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sign up for the free Billy Penn newsletter and stay in the know. An agreement was reached after several weeks of negotiations. So, for example, SEPTA police officer Lt. Michael Wright earned more overtime than anyone else on SEPTA staff. Busch, the SEPTA spokesperson, said these initiatives will continue under acting chief Lawson. He wrote a letter to the SEPTA board in November, after a woman was raped on the Market-Frankford line, breaking down how the staff shortage has affected the system. Michael Tanenbaum The lowest-paying job at Septa is a Customer Service Representative with a salary of $36,718 per year. Bervine did not respond to Billy Penns request for comment for this story. .css-r1m4lw{background-color:#20262e;border-radius:50%;}.css-r1m4lw > svg > path{fill:#fff;}Add your salary. "In just the past five years, we have lost over 100 officers to resignations, almost all of whom have left to take police officer positions with departments offering higher salaries, better benefits and better working conditions," said Omari Bervine, president and CEO of the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. After graduation from the academy it's $19.20, then after three years of service it's $26 per hour. The previous top rate was $66,480 after 48 months of service. After several months of negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109, SEPTA agreed to raise the starting pay from $49,858 to $62,379. Sign up for the free Billy Penn newsletter to get everything you need to know about Philadelphia, every day. large amount of money on overtime. Our weekly newsletter delivers original reporting on the people, places and things that make Philly. This posting is for FUTURETransit Police Officer openings in our Transit Police Department. But that didnt stop them from spending what experts say is an. Copyright 2008-2023, Glassdoor, Inc. "Glassdoor" and logo are registered trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. And there are a few dozen who earned more than their annual salary each year in overtime. The community relies on everyone sharing. SEPTA Transit Police officer wears a face mask in Center City Philadelphia, PA on May 8, 2020. That leaves 150 to 160 patrol personnel, he said, and many of them are assigned to specialized units rather than to walk beats. Sign up for our weekly newsletter. He added that police-recruiting difficulty has also strained the forces manpower, resulting in more overtime claims. In 2015, the agency settled a class-action lawsuit for $13.1 million over claims the agency had forced employees to perform pre-shift work without compensation. The perennial child pleaser is 31 years old, but will only run on the Broad Street line this year. In April 2021, it entered a $1.5 million agreement with Allied Universal Security Services. Under the agreement, SEPTA also will shorten the time it takes to reach the top pay rate for patrol officers, about $71,000, to 24 months from the current nine years. NPSC adjustments on the Kenya Police salary Graduate cops will earn slightly above Ksh 18,000. That program lasted about two years, but didnt survive a round of budget cuts. But former SEPTA employees, like Chris Coyne, werent so sure. Read the news of the day in less than 10 minutes not that were counting. WHYY provides trustworthy, fact-based, local news and information and world-class entertainment to everyone in our community. And they argued that thats evidence that SEPTA didnt provide enough to protect its workers and should pay more to the families who who lost loved ones. #SEPTAnews @SEPTAPHILLY @SEPTA_SOCIAL 1:58 1.7K views Thomas J. Nestel III Retweeted (In their fourth year of service, Officers will be making $65,080 annually.) SEPTA police officers gathered outside Temple University Hospital in early April after a transit officer was shot and wounded in Frankford. Name: Charles Cole. Labor costs account for about 70% of SEPTA's $1.5 billion budget, and the agency shelled out nearly $59 million just in overtime payments for the fiscal year ending in June 30, 2020. A Philadelphia-area transit police department is set to implement the largest pay increase the force has seen in more than two decades in an effort to attract and maintain talent amid an officer shortage. Also on Sunday, at 15th Street Station, a man was robbed at gunpoint an incident Bervine said was "overshadowed" by the amount of crime SEPTA saw over the weekend. for the next Police Academy class starting in July 2023. Currently there are about 212 on the force, SEPTA spokesperson Busch said. Amid staffing shortages, SEPTA has been bringing in outside contractors to help address safety concerns. On the amount of overtime some SEPTA managers are taking home. All rights reserved. PHILADELPHIA (Oct. 22, 2020) District Attorney Larry Krasner on Thursday announced Aggravated Assault and related charges against SEPTA Police Sgt. It also raised questions about the agencys oversight process, he said. 2023 Flower Show Weekend Extra Regional Rail Train Service, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Serving Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. Nearly 260 sworn officers serve and protect within the 2,200 square-mile SEPTA service area. Its no secret to us that the top echelon of managers get more overtime, weve been seeing that and living that, he said. And at the end of the fiscal year, he had earned $212,000 altogether. So the unions specifically asked for a $500,000 death benefit for [Teds family] and all of the families who lost a SEPTA employee. SEPTA provides outstanding benefit and retirement programs: Medical Benefits Current HMO annual premium contribution = 1.5% of 40-hour hourly rate. The average salary for Septa employees is $79,863 per year. Your input helps Glassdoor refine our pay estimates over time. Local news should be free and accessible, which is why we ask readers like you to support our work rather than charging a fee to see it. On the construction and maintenance side, it could be responding to signal issues that come up, or emergency track work that needs to be performed.. Transit Police Officers are responsible for policing the entire regional SEPTA system, covering an area of five Pennsylvania counties (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia) and three states (Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania). For veteran officers, the rate for pay bumps is also being accelerated. John Kaminski, Glendale Thomas and James McDaniel earned by far the most overtime out of SEPTAs 260 mid-level maintenance managers, each asserting close to $90,000 in overtime claims last year. The starting salary for rookies entering the academy will be raised from $46,536 to $56,507, and post-graduation pay will go from $49,536 to $62,387. And at the end of the fiscal year, he had earned $212,000 altogether. Download the SEPTA App from the Apple Store, Download the Transit Watch App from the Apple Store, Threatening Items Prohibited on SEPTA Property. Trivia quiz: How much do you know about Philadelphia? Rampant overtime spending. Our customers can only realize transits affordability, equity, and sustainability benefits if they feel comfortable riding on SEPTA, which is why were committed to doing everything we can to keep our system safe, the authority said in a statement. The increase comes days after two more violent attacks on a SEPTA worker and a rider. I find that amount of hours worked to be difficult to believe.. NBC10 hires Fred Shropshire to replace Jim Rosenfield as weekday evening anchor. They would call a guy like me in, a union guy, to justify that a man needed supervision. Busch acknowledged that overtime payouts, which do not contribute to an employees pension, were sometimes a factor in internal promotions. Yet nearly half of these 800 employees earned more than 50% of their base pay in overtime, and about 45 men earned as much or considerably more than their annual salary. But some rank-and-file maintenance staff also saw claims that raised questions at the very least, about worker safety. Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic, Visible Intermodal Protection Enforcement Response, which is meant to reduce violent crimes on transportation, Special Operations Response Team, which handles specialized situations like armed hijackings and chemical terrorism, the criminal investigations squad, which investigates anything nefarious on SEPTA property. The transit authority has also teamed up officers with social workers in an effort to help individuals from vulnerable populations to seek housing, help with addiction and mental health services. How much do Septa employees make? The agency also believes transit officers should be rewarded for their hard work, spokesperson Andrew Busch said. January 13, 2021 / 10:06 AM / CBS Philadelphia PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Seven members of the SEPTA Police are under investigation after they attended last week's pro-Trump rally in Washington,. Want a digest of WHYYs programs, events & stories? Police officer wages are heavily dependent on the cost of living in each state. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY. Two other SEPTA cops, Officer Floyd Whitaker and Sgt. Just this week, a SEPTA manager was arrested over an alleged overtime fraud scheme. Shapiro breaks with Dems on COVID policies in Pa. gov race. A 21-year-old Delaware County man has been arrested in last month's fatal shooting of a Kensington man on SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line train, Philadelphia police said Wednesday. Before he stepped down the day after July Fourth, Thomas Nestel III had served as chief of the SEPTA Transit Police for nearly 10 years. The SEPTA Police Department offers an excellent benefits package, and a starting salary of $43,856 for Academy recruits. Spending on safety and security will increase by about 50% to $53 million for the 2023 fiscal year, which begins July 1. And if the financial management is questionable, who knows what they could pay out for people if they did a better job? The estimated total pay for a Septa Police Officer at Septa is $60,798 per year. Nestel and SEPTA, in court filings, have argued theyre not liable for the supervisors behavior. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY). / CBS Philadelphia. "With so much gun violence going on, I think everybody will feel better knowing that our public transportation system is being safeguarded and patrolled," Oh said. Still, Zarrinkelk acknowledges that many riders feel safer when they see SEPTA police at stations and on vehicles. Those seem like really obvious questions, Kriz said. Septa employees with the job title Bus . Thats a payout that New Yorks MTA provided over the summer to all the families of employees who had died working for that transit agency. The estimated additional pay is $4,578 per year. The highest earner was SEPTA Transit Police Lt. Michael Wright, who racked up $116,636 in overtime, pushing his total salary to $211,895. The authority's private security contractors have not been as effective as hoped in improving the situation during the pandemic. The Transit Police Department extends beyond the regular beat with units of specially trained officers. *Be at least 21 years of age and a U.S. citizen. Jobs at SEPTA COVID-19 Vaccination Policy SEPTA currently requires all new employees to be fully vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination at their pre-employment medical appointment Search by Specialty Transportation Transportation Skilled Trades Skilled Trades Professional Professional Entry Level Entry Level Support Support View All Jobs By continuing to use and navigate this website, you are agreeing to the use of cookies. And I think there are workers at SEPTA [who] wonder am I getting screwed over so that a manager can can get rich off of the system that doesnt really work in the favor of the average employee? Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police President John McNesby discusses the change in tune as city leaders look to refund the police amid nationwide crime spike. 80. Kriz said workloads like his raised questions about safety for everyone involved including riders who depend on the specialist to keep subway cars in safe operating condition. SEPTA Police Officers salaries on the level of Police Departments throughout the Philadelphia region. In 2019, an officers service weapon fired while holstered a flaw that had previously been seen with the Sig Sauer P320 handguns most carry. 860 talking about this. Together we can reach 100% of WHYYs fiscal year goal. With 160 officers available at the time, 90 were assigned to the patrol division, which was then split into three shifts. It comes as lawmakers have already ended elements of the emergencies that kept millions of Americans insured during the pandemic. Due to an incident on Wisconsin Ave NW at Hall Pl on the 31 Route, buses are experiencing delays. WHYY offers a voice to those not heard, a platform to share everyones stories, a foundation to empower early and lifelong learners and a trusted space for unbiased news. The average Septa salary ranges from approximately $36,718 per year for a Customer Service Representative to $111,809 per year for a Project Manager. You may: 1234 Market Street The authority's budget has room for up to 260 officers, but SEPTA has fallen behind competing law enforcement agencies to hire for transit jobs that some police officers deem less appealing than other opportunities. Septa. Market data provided byFactset. As of 2020, the starting salary for State Troopers is $69,542. And some employees earn nearly twice what their peers make for doing the same job. A transit police officer waits for the Broad Street Line to stop at Erie station, so he can rouse a homeless person sleeping on the train in Philadelphia, PA, on April 1, 2020. When it comes to the real work that needs to be done on the floor, overtime always seems to be limited., SEPTA: Dire finances prevent agency from paying out COVID death benefits. The union that represents SEPTA workers fought for a $500,000 death benefit a payout that New Yorks MTA provided over the summer. The salary starts at $67,674 per year and goes up to $65,232 per year for the highest level of seniority. MICHAELA: You cant say that because SEPTA paid out this overtime, they couldnt pay out these financial death benefits. "Maybe a little bit safer, but I mean I wish that the whole city changes to make things better and not just police officers," one rider said. Earlier this year, the SEPTA board approved contracts with three other security companies, adding 88 people to its SEPTA Outreach program, meant to help customers navigate trains and stations, assist with destination-less riders and serve as extra eyes and ears for the Transit Police.. Transit Police did. Matthew Sinkiewicz (DOB: 12/13/1983) of. Overall Benefits Rating.css-11cfy92{color:#0caa41 !important;}.css-11cfy92{color:#0caa41 !important;}4. SEPTA Police Officers' salaries on the level of Police Departments throughout the Philadelphia region. Spokesperson Andrew Busch chalked both police and maintenance spending up to the nature of public transit, where crime or infrastructure problems could strike at any time and staff needed to be ready to work long shifts. Since 1981, the Transit Police Department has been dedicated to keeping customers safe and secure, while protecting SEPTA property and staff. Managed vacation time is pretty generous., Learn How to State Your Case and Earn Your Raise, Climb the Ladder With These Proven Promotion Tips, A Guide to Negotiating the Salary You Deserve, How to Prepare for Your Interview and Land the Job. The pandemic has thrown SEPTA into a budget crisis. Equal parts funny and fascinating, Bullseye sifts the wheat from the chaff, and brings you hot culture picks, in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary creative people and irreverent original comedy.