With the HPD on the verge of a massive pay raise of over 36% for it's officers, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez held a news conference today demanding that city leaders do the same for his department.
"We're just to raise awareness because I think it's an important public safety issue in our community" Gonzalez said, "It's urgent now because we see that the disparity just continues to get bigger and bigger."
That's because Houston police officers are set to get a bump up to $81,000 a year for a starting salary, while Harris County Sheriff's deputies are still at $57,000.
"They should not have to be begging to try to at least be competitive, and have competitive pay with other counterparts, and we're seeing all across the state where pay is going up. It's the market place, it's change. And that's a good thing."
As a result, some deputies are already applying for the higher paying city jobs.
"It's unfair and unfathomable that pretty much since the beginning of time, since the origins of this agency, it always has to be begging for more and more just to keep up with other agencies. That's unacceptable" noted Gonzalez.
The question now is, will Harris County Commissioner's accept a proposal for a pay raise, while trying to deal with a budget deficit.