The Raleigh Police Protective Association, the law enforcement division of Teamsters Local 391, launched a campaign on February 24 to increase pay in Raleigh for police officers.  

"Raleigh police officers are some of the lowest paid officers in the country and in Wake County," said RPPA president Matthew Cooper, who is a detective for the Raleigh Police Department.  "Not only are we having a tough time recruiting police officers to come and work in for Raleigh, we are having a difficult time retaining our officers."

Cooper said the pay issue is now a crisis as the population of Raleigh grows and the need for highly trained police officers increase.  

Here is a comparison of Raleigh Police Department starting pay versus communities in Wake County:  

Knightdale PD $41,497

Cary PD $40,456

Wake Forest PD  $39,891

Fuquay-Varina PD $38,309

Rolesville PD $37,937

Raleigh PD $34,281

To illustrate the point, RPPA member Bobby Hudson, a Raleigh police officer trying to provide for his family, sat down with our communications team to explain how the low pay effects his family.