Concho Valley homepage.com
by: Aaron McGuire
Posted:
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — The San Angelo Police Department has officially started to hire officers using its new pay rates in anticipation of their New Year’s Day effective date of Jan. 1, 2024.
The debut was shown in a social media post made by the SAPD on Thursday, Dec. 28. The updated rates are part of the “COSA Civil Service Grade and Step Plan.”
According to the SAPD website, the pay rates are as follows:
SAPD Pay Rates
| RANK | BASE SALARY | MONTHLY LOYALTY PAY |
| Recruit | $54,400 | 0 |
| Police Officer: Basic | $58,500 | 0 |
| Police Officer: Intermediate | $65,500 | 25 |
| Police Officer: Advanced | $71,500 | 25 |
| Police Officer: Master | $76,500 | 25 |
| Sergeant: Intermediate | $78,000 | 25 |
| Sergeant: Advanced | $84,000 | 25 |
| Sergeant: Master | $88,500 | 25 |
| Lieutenant: Advanced | $99,000 | 25 |
| Lieutenant: Master | $104,000 | 25 |
The SAPD will now be accepting lateral entry officers as well, a departure from previous hiring practices. Officers looking to join the SAPD laterally are required to file an application with the City, which will be pre-screened “for anything that would eliminate applicants for employment” using a pass/fail system, according to the SAPD. The following are some of the requirements that lateral entry officers must meet:
- Hold an intermediate peace officer certificate or higher
- Be anywhere below or at the maximum age of 56 at the time of application
- Pass a Physical Agility Test
- Have an approved Background Process and Personal History Statement
The new pay rates come after successful talks between the City of San Angelo and the San Angelo Police Officers Coalition resulted in the organizations working together to amend SAPD salaries to remain competitive with police departments in surrounding cities. These discussions first came into the public eye midway through October 2023 when former SAPD public information officer Tracy Piat-Foxx began warning San Angelo residents of a potential exodus of officers that stemmed from meager pay and a lack of City support, among other issues.
Previous data gathered by the Concho Valley Homepage from the SAPD and police departments with similar populations in Texas showed that SAPD officers consistently had lower salaries than other departments, often seeing thousands of dollars less than their other Texan counterparts. Below is a table of the data that was gathered as of October 2023:
Police Salaries Across Texas as of October 2023
| Police Agency | Cadet/Recruit Base Salary | 2 years service | 5 years service | 8 years service | LT2 |
| San Angelo Police Department | $48,149/year | $55,580/ year (2-4 years) | $57,872/year (5-7 years) | $60,164/ year (8-10 years) | $95,116/year |
| Abilene Police Department | $62,702/year | $73,267/year | $81,639 | $93,529/year | $127,130/year |
| Wichita Falls Police Department | $52,603 | $62,441 | $67,392 | Not listed | Not listed |
| Conroe Police Department | $54,846 | $68,007 | $78,179 | $89,874 | Not listed |