BATON ROUGE — As Baton Rouge police officers prepare to receive a historic pay raise in the coming days, Constable Terrica Williams said her department will not see a pay increase and wants to know why.
“The mayor had always said that law enforcement would be his first priority,” Williams said on the UWK podcast Louisiana Unfiltered. “He acknowledged during the council meeting in December that constables are law enforcement. So I assumed when he started talking about pay increases that he would include constables in that.”
The Constable’s Office is responsible for executing all city court orders, including civil and criminal subpoenas, civil mandates, evictions, judgments and seizures.
“We step in where people don’t always see because it’s not for the lights, cameras or action. It’s because it’s our job and it’s our heart,” Williams explained. “Law enforcement is something that comes from your heart. There’s no amount of money they can put on a paycheck that would make you want to sign up to do this job. If you’re doing it, it’s because you love to do it.”
Williams and the rest of the department later learned the Constable’s Office was not included in Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ proposal to raise police pay. Edwards introduced the plan in March, and the Metro Council approved it in April.
MORE: Metro Council approves historic pay raise for Baton Rouge Police officers
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“I never said, ‘Don’t give city police a pay increase,’ because I think all police officers deserve more money,” she said. “I was a police officer before I became constable. I know what it’s like to save money and still not be able to pay your light bill. I sympathize with anybody who wears a uniform, and I feel they should all be making more money.”
Not enough pay or staff
Williams said the Constable’s Office is also facing staffing shortages.
“I think we’re down to 26 deputies. For us, 43 is what we need,” Williams said. “The deputies who go out and serve papers throughout the City of Baton Rouge are down to three when there should be six. We have a warrant department that’s supposed to have two deputies and is down to one. We handle evictions. That division is supposed to have two and is down to one. All positions are one or two people short.”
According to Williams, starting pay for an East Baton Rouge constable deputy is $19.03 an hour. She said the pay has improved since she joined the office in 2019, when deputies were among the lowest-paid law enforcement officers in Louisiana.
“When I came in here in 2019, I went to the mayor. I said, ‘These deputies need some money. What can you do?’” Williams recalled. “(Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome) laughed at me, and I said, ‘I’m serious. It’s not funny. These guys are making $12.73 an hour, and it’s not fair.’ They wear uniforms. They’re certified. They can go work at Walmart, Raising Cane’s or Chick-fil-A and make more money than this.”
Williams said that after those conversations, the Constable’s Office typically received raises whenever BRPD officers got raises. Still, she said the pay increases haven’t been enough to stop deputies from leaving for better-paying jobs.
“In the last year, four of my deputies already transferred to BRPD because they get a $15,000 sign-on bonus and make more money,” she said. “Plus, they have more overtime. We don’t get overtime like that.”
April press conference
Last month, four East Baton Rouge Metro Council members held a press conference asking Edwards to pull his police pay raise proposal and instead spread smaller raises across all city-parish departments. Williams attended that press conference as well.
“When I showed up at the press conference, (Edwards) pulled me to the side,” Williams recalled. “He said, ‘I’m going to work on y’all later.’ And I said, ‘Mayor, this is unacceptable. Constables are law enforcement. They go through the police academy. They train. They have to keep their certifications up. They have to go through POST Council to make sure they stay up to date with everything they should be doing.’ And he said, ‘I know, I know. I promise you, I’ll work on it.’”
Williams said she later asked Edwards for a specific date and time to discuss raises for her office.
“And then Jennifer Racca walked out and said, ‘You’re next.’ And it felt like a slap in the face,” Williams said. “How do you say I’m next when you find this kind of money and don’t include us? So I rushed out to the mayor. I was like, ‘What’s the game plan? What are we going to do?’ And nobody could give me straight answers.”
Constable’s request
Williams said she wants her deputies to receive the same 15% pay raise approved for BRPD officers.
“What I’m asking for is the same 15% increase they’re giving BRPD police. And from what I’ve been told, the money is there to give constables raises,” she said. “It still won’t put them at the level of BRPD police. Constables will still be behind.”
“City officers make more arrests and answer 911 calls and things like that. I get it,” she continued. “We back up everybody. We show up on scenes if there’s a murder or someone has been shot. If my guys are in the area, they’re going to pull up. Everybody — from council members to the mayor to the constable — should be about the betterment of the city of Baton Rouge.”
Plan for city-wide raises
Late last month, the City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish released a proposed pay adjustment plan for classified and unclassified employees, including the Constable’s Office & DPW employees. According to the Mayor-President’s Office, the administration is proposing the raises based on findings from a 2024 compensation study.
Under the proposal, city-parish employees would first receive a 3.5% raise based on their current salaries before moving into a new 21-step pay scale with updated salary ranges.
The proposed restructuring could lead to higher salaries for deputy constables and supervisors, an issue officials say has affected recruitment and retention as employees leave for higher-paying law enforcement agencies.
Under the proposed scale, deputy constables could earn between roughly $34,000 and more than $58,000 annually, while deputy constable captains could make up to about $74,000.
Edwards’ proposal is scheduled to be introduced during a public hearing on May 13. If approved, the changes would take effect June 27.
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