Recently, the “CSI effect” has increased the number of college graduates interested in “living the life” portrayed on television. Unfortunately, this has not increased the quality of our applicants. Top college graduates can find much more lucrative employment elsewhere. Although our entry-level salaries seem generous to average graduates, they become inadequate within a few years., especially as these graduates mature, marry and must support growing families. With no merit raises and a career progression that stalls after only seven years, the “CSI effect” quickly fades. Most become dissatisfied with a career that is, in reality, unglamorous and underpaid. Even when job satisfaction is present, it is inadequate to overcome a lifetime of noncompetitive salaries.
A better solution would be to attract experienced forensic scientists who require little or no training, but historically they have not been attracted by the salaries and limited career progression offered by the DPS.
Except for a one-time salary reclassification more than ten years ago, the DPS Crime Laboratory’s Forensic Scientists have received no special attention. Statewide raises have been the only increase in pay, not enough to even keep up with inflation. Other crime laboratories have noticeably higher salaries, along with cost of living raises and career progression, attractions that fuel our turnover.
*Inflation was determined from the consumer price index, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Values for 2006 are estimated.
All of this combined makes it difficult to retain the DPS Crime Lab's biggest asset, experienced employees. When they leave for higher pay or a chance at a career progression, it results in higher costs to the state of Texas and fewer employees performing casework. This results in increased backlogs which causes additional stressors, resulting in more employees seeking other employement in a never-ending destructive cycle. A crisis situation awaits the state’s crime laboratory system without the retention of its experienced forensic scientists.
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