NEW ORLEANS — Whoever is the next leader of the New Orleans Police Department will earn around $100,000 more than any chief in NOPD history.
The current administration recently passed an ordinance bumping up the NOPD superintendent’s base pay range to between $274,000 and $360,000.
For comparison, former Chief Shaun Ferguson made $184,000. Before him, former superintendent Michael Harrison was making about $179,000. Before Harrison, Ronald Serpas earned about the same, at $180,000.
The Police Executive Research Forum’s 2021 Survey, released last summer, says out of 335 surveyed chiefs, the average police chief salary is about $167,000 nationwide.
Just 23 chiefs nationwide make more than $250,000.
That puts New Orleans’ superintendent among the highest-paid in the country and on the top end of what chiefs make in similarly-sized cities.
In Anaheim, California, Chief Jorge Cisneros earns about $273,000 per year, per data collected in 2020.
In Aurora, Colorado, the chief’s salary is set at around $252,000.
And in Cleveland, Arlington, and Tampa, compensation for police leadership range between $124,000 and $210,000 per year, as of data collected in 2021.
But the salary for NOPD’s chief is on-par with the pay of chiefs who deal with similar crime problems.
For example, in Baltimore, New Orleans’ former chief Michael Harrison was making $275,000 per year. He just recently left that job.
The salary is also $275,000 annually in St. Louis, although part of that salary is paid by a nonprofit group.
In Detroit, the salary is around $250,000, according to the 2021 survey by PERF.
And in Memphis, the chief earns about $230,000 per year.
It’s clear whoever gets the job here in New Orleans will earn significant and competitive pay at a $274,000. But they’re also inheriting a consent decree, staff shortages, and other issues that many other cities of our size don’t have.