The Hire of Firemen and Policemen

• Author: William C. Beyer
• DOI: 10.1177/000271622411300132
• Published date: 01 May 1924
• Date: 01 May 1924
• Subject Matter: Articles

235

The

Hire

of

Firemen

and

Policemen

By

WILLIAM

C.

BEYER

Director,

Philadelphia

Bureau

of

Municipal

Research

IN

the

spring

of

1923

the

policemen,

firemen

and

park

guards

of

Phila-

delphia

opened

a

campaign

for

higher

salaries.

Requests

immediately

came

to

the

Bureau

of

Municipal

Research

for

information

on

rates

of

pay

of

simi-

lar

groups

of

employes

in

other

cities.

In

order

to

obtain

and

furnish

this

in-

formation,

the

Bureau

addressed

a

questionnaire,

in

May,

1923,

to

police

and

fire

officials

in

the

21

largest

cities

in

the

United

States.

Returns

were

received

from

both

sets

of

officials

in

the

following

17

cities:

New

York,

Chicago,

Philadelphia,

Detroit,

Cleve-

land,

St.

Louis,

Boston,

Baltimore,

Los

Angeles,

Buffalo,

San

Francisco,

Milwaukee,

Washington,

Newark,

Minneapolis,

Kansas

City,

Mo.,

and

Seattle.

Besides

these,

returns

were

received

from

the

police

officials

in

Pittsburgh

and

from

the

fire

officials

in

Indianapolis.

The

questionnaire,

it

should

be

stated,

was

not

confined

to

rates

of

pay,

but

called

for

information

on

other

closely

related

conditions

of

employ-

ment.

With

reference

to

each

rank

of

service

the

following

questions

were

asked:

1.

Rate

of

pay

(per

day,

month

or

year).

2.

If

paid

by

day,

normally

for

how

many

days

per

year?

3.

Hours

per

day

on

duty.

4.

Hours

per

week

on

duty.

5.

Annual

amount

of

clothing

allowance.

6.

If

uniforms

are

furnished,

estimated

value

per

year.

7.

What,

if

any,

provisions

for

reim-

bursement

for

clothes

ruined

in

course

of

duty?

8.

Under

a

pension

system?

9.

If

so,

amount

of

annual

dues.

10.

Is

there

a

relief

fund

for

death

bene-

fits,

sickness,

etc.?

11.

If

so,

amount

of

dues.

12.

Number

of

days’..sick

leave

with

pay

per

year.

13.

Number

of

days’

vacation

with

pay

per

year.

14.

Number

of

days

off

with

pay

per

year

besides

annual

vacation.

A

questionnaire

similar

to

this,

though

differing

in

some

details,

was

sent

in

December,

1923,

to

the

officials

of

six

of

the

more

important

state

police

forces:

those

of

Massachusetts,

Michi-

gan,

New

Jersey,

New

York,

Pennsyl-

vania

and

West

Virginia.

Returns

were

received

from

all

states

except

West

Virginia.

From

the

information

thus

obtained

by

the

Bureau,

let

us

see

how

the

groups

of

workers

with

which

we

are

here

concerned

fare in

the

cities

and

states

included

in

our

comparison.

Be-

cause

of

the

brief

space

available

for

this

article,

the

presentation

of

facts

must

be

confined

to

the

more

important

conditions

of

employment.

These

would

appear

to

be

(1)

rates

of

pay,

(2)

allowances

for

uniforms,

(3)

reimburse-

ment

for

clothing

ruined

in

the

course

of

duty,

(4)

length

of

sick

leave

with

pay,

(5)

length

of

annual

vacation

with

pay

and

(6)

pensions.

Consideration

will

be

given

first

to

firemen,

then

to

municipal

policemen,

and

finally

to

state

policemen.

THE

FIRE

SERVICE

Comparisons

in

the

fire

service

may

be

made

by

classes,

or

grades,

of

which

there

are

seven:

hosemen

and

laddermen,

who

constitute

the

rank

and

file

of

the

fire-fighting

force;

steam

or

auto

engi-