The Coolidge Police Department is facing a critical staffing crisis marked by the second-lowest police wages in Pinal County, an alarming officer turnover rate, and mounting safety concerns. These issues took center stage at Monday’s City Council meeting, where current and former officers described a department hemorrhaging talent and struggling to maintain adequate coverage for a city ranked among the top five in Arizona for violent crimes per capita.
Officers testified that the department has cycled through over 25 officers in just four years, with many working multiple shifts to cover vacancies and some operating with only three officers to patrol the entire city. Many characterized the department as merely a “training agency” where officers gain experience before leaving for substantially higher pay elsewhere—with some reporting 50% salary increases when departing for neighboring jurisdictions.
A Step Program for Police Pay
A step program would establish a structured pay scale with predetermined increases based on years of service, similar to programs implemented in neighboring communities like Chandler and Oro Valley. Such programs provide officers with clear expectations about future compensation and create incentives for long-term service.
Mike Henry, a lifelong Coolidge resident who began working for the Coolidge Police Department in 1972, expressed concern about the department’s current staffing situation.
“I am concerned with what’s going on right now with the police department,” Henry said. “Getting down to a small portion of police officers responding to a call is very dangerous.”
Henry emphasized the unique dangers of police work compared to other city positions. “When you go to work every day, it’s in your mind: am I going to have to kill somebody today, or is somebody going to try to kill me?” he said. “That’s something that the rest of the city employees cannot really say.”
High Turnover Rates and Associated Costs
Several speakers highlighted the department’s high turnover rate, with officers frequently leaving for better-paying positions in other agencies.
Paul Brent, who left the department earlier this year after more than three years of service, explained his decision was “strictly because of financials.”
“From the time I started Coolidge and the time I ended Coolidge, my rent went up 70%,” Brent said. “The amount that I was getting from Coolidge wasn’t enough to supplement my income, wasn’t enough to pay my bills. Even for my retirement, I had to not put anything into my retirement just to make my rent payment.”
Brent noted significant turnover during his tenure. “My badge number was 127, and I think now they’re getting up to the 150s. With the three years I’ve been here, that’s been 20 new hires with just sworn police officers in three years’ time,” he said.
Derek Lull, who served from 2015 to 2021, described his departure as “an extremely difficult decision both emotionally and financially.”
“Over six years, step programs and other agencies stepped up, up, up, and Coolidge was just kind of puttering along,” Lull said. “Every year became more and more of an incentive for me to leave and go to another agency. At the time I left, I ended up getting over a 50% increase to go to another agency that was paying the market rate.”
Officer Daniel Espino, currently assigned to a state gang task force, echoed these concerns. “My badge number is 125. I’ve been here for four years. We’re already in the 150s, so over 25 people have come and gone in four years,” he said.
Phillip Blouir, a 16-year veteran responsible for hiring and training, presented a cost analysis demonstrating that the city spent approximately $671,000 over the past year on recruiting and training new officers. He explained that implementing the proposed step program would cost around $550,000, suggesting the city had effectively “overspent $120,000 by not implementing a step program.”
Blouir detailed the extensive costs associated with bringing a new officer to “road ready” status, which takes 11-12 months and involves academy training, equipment, field training, and various salary expenses totaling around $80,000 per officer.
Comparison of Coolidge Police Salaries with Other Agencies
Officer Brett Larkin, a newer addition to the force who previously served as a County Board Supervisor in Wisconsin, addressed the council about salary comparisons.
“It is my understanding that this Council has been provided with an email detailing police wages compared to ever-climbing inflation rates, the fact that this city has the second lowest police wages in Pinal County, and the shocking amount of turnover that has consequently caused the city of Coolidge to lose investments,” Larkin said.
Officer Marcos Sandoval read a statement from Sergeant Ashley Aranda, who has served since 2004 but had a family emergency. Aranda’s statement highlighted the department’s struggle with officer retention and the consequences of not having a proper step program for dedicated officers.
Aranda’s statement continued, “After 21 years of service to this city and eight years in my current position as a supervisor, I am still $13,000 below the top of the pay scale. We have officers with similar years of service nearly $15,000 beneath the top of their assigned pay scale.”
Impact on Public Safety and High Crime Rates
Multiple officers emphasized that Coolidge faces significant crime challenges and requires experienced officers to address them effectively.
Daniel Espino, who works with a state gang task force, presented troubling statistics. “In 2023, we conducted 32 residential search warrants in the county of Pinal. Twenty-one of those were here in Coolidge. In 2024, we did 36 residential search warrants; 24 of those were here in Coolidge. In 2025, we’re only two months in, and we’ve done seven search warrants in the county; three of them have been in Coolidge. All for drugs, all for guns, all for violent crimes.”
Espino continued, “Currently, I’m working a human trafficking, specifically sex trafficking case, that is taking place here in Coolidge traveling into multiple states… Since I’ve been with Coolidge, Coolidge has been top five per capita in the state for drugs and top five for violent crimes. There’s been an alarming increase in gun violence and homicides specifically recently.”
David Gross, a former officer who left after eight years, added, “Pull the crime statistics. There’s been an uptick in aggravated assaults and homicides and murders in this city.”
Broader Public Safety Concerns / Liability
Several speakers highlighted concerns about liability and public safety due to understaffing.
Sergeant Aranda’s statement noted, “We run at minimum staffing, three officers to cover the entire city boundaries, on a regular basis… It’s an impossible situation that we have been forced to manage for decades.”
David Gross described his experience: “There were plenty of times on shift where it was me and a sergeant for two, three, four hours. Talk about liability there.”
Mike Henry warned, “What you don’t want is the Pinal County Sheriff’s Department having to come in and patrol the streets of Coolidge.”
Long-Term Benefits of Retention
Officers emphasized the benefits of retaining experienced personnel beyond just cost savings.
“The effects on this rotating door, the bigger issue here is the effects on the community,” Phillip Blouir said. “One thing I’ve really loved in all my years here is building and cultivating relationships with the community… Because of those relationships, the community members have helped me on scenes, and I’ve been able to provide them a really good public service.”
Sergeant Aranda’s statement expressed concern about the department’s future: “It saddens me to think that once I retire later this year, that the bulk of this department will have less than five years’ experience. I am concerned about the safety of my family and extended family, not because the officers that we employ aren’t capable, but because the years of experience needed to understand and reduce liability take more than that.”
Other Departments Weigh In
Representatives from other city departments also addressed the Council during public comments. Ben Navarro, Director of Public Works for the City of Coolidge, acknowledged the challenges faced by police officers but expressed concern that the focus on police department needs might overshadow other departments’ needs.
“Public works, that’s who I am. I’m the director for Public Works. They see the same struggle as everybody else,” Navarro said. “I’ve been in public works less than three years, and I have hired three-quarters of my department in less than three years.”
“Don’t forget about the permit techs, don’t forget about the library folks. Everybody has a part to play. PD and fire is important, but everybody else is too,” he added.
An engineer with the Coolidge Fire Department also spoke about his department’s needs. “Yes, the officers need a pay raise. However, we need a new station, we need 12 new people. We are running more calls than most of the county,” he said.
“We’re on track to run, I believe, 4,000 calls this year, which is actually more than most of the other departments in the county, and we do it with one station, one crew. That’s it,” he continued. “We are substantially larger than Florence; they have two stations.”
Council Response
As the step program was not on the official agenda, council members were limited in their responses. When Vice Mayor Tatiana Murrieta began to discuss details about a potential step program, she was reminded that such discussion would be inappropriate as the topic was not on the agenda.
Councilmember Adriana Saavedra suggested that the city should look at how all employees are paid. “I’ve heard from lots of people that have said, ‘I’ve been at the city for X number of years. I’m not sure what my raise would be next year, if I get a raise, if it’s cost of living, what does that look like,'” Saavedra said.
Other council members expressed appreciation for the officers’ comments. Councilmember Tom Shope said, “I appreciate all of you folks coming out tonight. It was eye-opening. I think we’re all aware of some of the problems and everything, but we appreciate your honesty and getting up in front of us to tell us your story tonight.”
Funding Challenges
City Manager Gilbert Lopez addressed funding concerns, including the recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Nikola Corporation.
“Nikola filed Chapter 11, so our hope is they reorganize and do some things,” Lopez said. “Our hope is they get bought out or they reorganize and continue to be a viable employer and company that gets going, or somebody else is in there. So we’re watching that very closely.”
Nikola Corporation, which has a manufacturing facility in Coolidge, filed for bankruptcy on February 19, 2025, according to a press release from the company. The company has entered Chapter 11 with approximately $47 million in cash on hand and is seeking to sell its assets.
State Legislature’s “Ongoing Assault” on City Funding
Mayor Jon Thomson highlighted what he described as a systematic effort at the state level to undermine municipal funding sources, creating additional pressure on the city’s ability to address compensation issues.
“You guys are pretty well versed in how things are going at the legislature and that there’s continuous attacks on towns and cities trying to take away our financial sources,” Thomson said. “One year it’s one thing, next year it’s another. This year it’s the city food tax, it was the rental tax before, they got that, they changed the flat tax. It seems like it’s an ongoing assault on towns and cities by the state legislature.”
Thomson emphasized the difficult position the city faces due to these external pressures combined with internal needs. “We’re going to do what we can. There’s nobody here that doesn’t think that everybody in this room and everywhere else in these organizations aren’t valued employees,” he said. “Keep in mind that we’re hitting it from both ends. They’re coming after our funding sources, and we’re trying to keep things going here.”
Looking Ahead
The issue of police department compensation and a potential step program is likely to be formally addressed in upcoming budget discussions, where council members will have the opportunity to consider the proposed step program alongside other city priorities and funding constraints.
