(The Center Square) – The Pierce County Deputy Sheriff’s Independent Guild is telling its members to work elsewhere following a contract proposal from County Executive Ryan Mello’s office.
In a message to members, the guild didn’t mince words about the contract proposal.
“If you are waiting for meaningful compensation from the county executive’s office regarding your future, he is not willing to compensate you for it and we, as a bargaining team, suggest you further your professional career elsewhere,” the guild wrote in an update.
The guild went as far as linking job applications for nearby police departments in Tacoma, Bonney Lake, Puyallup and Gig Harbor.
The contract bargaining process between the county and guild has been going on for more than a year. The county’s proposed contract includes a pay raise of 10% over the next three years. Guild President Shaun Darby told The Center Square in a phone call that this was the only offer from the county in 14 months of negotiations.
The guild normally does three-year contracts with the county, but Darby said the uncertain economy leaves the guild to consider one or two year deals instead.
According to Darby, the guild was agreeable to a 4% base pay increase for 2025, as well as a 2% to 4% option for people with associate and bachelor’s degrees. Darby said this would have given recruits with college degrees up to an 8% bump in pay for 2025 to help with recruiting efforts through more competitive financial incentives.
A presentation from the guild in April 2024 revealed that the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department has one of the lowest number of police officers per 1,000 residents in the state, with about 50% fewer deputies per 1,000 residents. Despite this, deputies are handling over 100% more casework than their peers in similar-sized law enforcement agencies.
Since 2021, more than 20 deputies have left – and recent applicants are pulling their resumes mid-process. Between 2023 and 2024, roughly 21 applicants rescinded their Pierce County application to go to other law enforcement agencies, including the Tacoma Police Department.
Data shows that the average entry-level deputy in the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department makes an hourly wage of $59.45 while watching their counterparts at the Tacoma Police Department makes $69.80. Pierce County deputies with over 20 years of experience and a college degree make an hourly compensation of $85.56, whereas a Tacoma police officer with the same experience earns $101.81 an hour.
Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank accused Mello of not respecting deputies with the contract proposal in a social media post on Monday.
“He refuses to give them a fair contract [and] he thinks he can bully these warriors,” Swank said in the post.
Darby said he anticipates an “overwhelming majority” of members to vote against the county’s contract proposal on June 7.
Mello did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.
