Understanding Compensation
Why Police & Fire Pay Parity is a Flawed Concept for Mesquite
Valuing Our First Responders
The Mesquite Police Association (MPA) holds the utmost respect for our colleagues in the Mesquite Fire Department (MFD). Both police officers and firefighters are essential to the safety and well-being of our community, often facing dangerous situations to protect Mesquite residents. We both deserve fair, competitive compensation that reflects the demands and risks of our professions.
However, the concept of mandated “pay parity” – forcing identical pay scales for police officers and firefighters – is a flawed approach that is detrimental to the police department. It overlooks the fundamental differences in our day-to-day duties, the volume and nature of our calls for service, unique job requirements, training, and the distinct market pressures influencing recruitment and retention for each profession. This page aims to explain why compensation should be based on the specific roles and market realities of each department, not an artificial link.
The Flawed Premise: Comparing Apples and Oranges
Data Spotlight: Calls for Service in Mesquite
Understanding workload is crucial. While both departments are consistently busy serving our community, data obtained through an open records request from the City of Mesquite, covering the period from January 1st, 2021, to April 14th, 2025, demonstrates a significant disparity in the volume of calls for service.
Since 2021, the Mesquite Police Department has handled nearly a half-million (500,000) calls for service while the Mesquite Fire Department has handled just under 100,000 calls for service. This means that the police department has responded to over 500% (5x) more calls than the fire department during that time.
The specific break down by each year is as follows:
| Calls for Service by Year | Mesquite Police | Mesquite Fire |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 YTD (to April 14th) | 32,407 (⬆️ 512% vs FD) | 6,320 |
| 2024 | 111,065 (⬆️ 489% vs FD) | 22,676 |
| 2023 | 113,801 (⬆️ 515% vs FD) | 22,067 |
| 2022 | 116,299 (⬆️ 518% vs FD) | 22,413 |
| 2021 | 111,662 (⬆️ 503% vs FD) | 22,165 |
| Total Since 2021 | 485,234 (⬆️ 507% vs FD) | 95,641 |
What This Data Proves:
The data unequivocally demonstrates that Mesquite Police Officers respond to a substantially higher volume of dispatched calls annually compared to our Fire Department colleagues. This significant difference underscores the broader scope and 24/7 operational tempo of law enforcement in addressing the diverse needs of our city. While the MFD provides critical emergency services, particularly in EMS, the sheer number of incidents requiring a police response and the constant demand for law enforcement intervention are demonstrably greater.
Data Spotlight:
Compensation Structures in Comparable Cities
When determining fair compensation, cities typically look at market rates in comparable municipalities (similar size, demographics, cost of living, crime rates, etc.). Mandated pay parity is not the standard practice. Compensation is usually set based on market analysis for each specific profession.
Compensation structures vary across comparable cities. All cities included on the city’s provided comparable cities list have abandoned the concept of police and fire pay parity due to market demands. When determining salaries, the following concepts must be accounted for:
- Market rate surveys specific to police officers in the city’s provided comparable cities list
- Market rate surveys specific to firefighters in the city’s provided comparable cities list
- Specific recruitment and retention challenges faced by each department
- Union negotiations and Collective Bargaining Agreements specific to each city and group
| Comparable City (PD Salary > FD Salary) |
Police Officer Top Salary (Ranking) |
Firefighter Top Salary (Ranking) |
Parity? |
|---|---|---|---|
Arlington (PD  5.54%) |
$108,907 (#6) | $102,872 (#4) | No |
| Carrollton (PD 9.37%) |
$109,926 (#5) |
$99,628 (#7) | No |
| Garland (PD 9.50%) |
$110,733 (#3) |
$100,214 (#6) | No |
| Grand Prairie (PD5.49%) |
$111,255 (#1) |
$102,767 (#5) | No |
| Irving (PD 5.59%) |
$110,256 (#4) | $104,088 (#2) | No |
| Plano (PD 4.81%) |
$111,254 (#2) | $105,898 (#1) | No |
| Richardson (PD 8.39%) |
$105,468 (#7) | $96,624 (8#) | No |
| Mesquite (PD = FD) |
$103,922 (#8) [  4.85% below average salary] |
$103,922 (#3) [ 1.85% above average salary] |
Yes |
| Average Police Officer Top Salary – $108,650 |
Average Firefighter Top Salary – $102,002 |
Why this matters:
Policing faces unique pressures that directly impact recruitment, retention, and the need for competitive compensation: Recruitment Crisis: Nationwide, law enforcement agencies struggle to attract qualified candidates due to heightened scrutiny, perceived risks, and demanding work-life balance impacts. Competitive pay is a critical recruitment tool. Retention: Keeping experienced officers is vital for public safety and cost-effective for the city (reduced training costs). Fair, market-based compensation is key to preventing officers from leaving for better-paying agencies. Liability and Legal Complexity: Officers operate under intense legal scrutiny and face significant personal and professional liability. Officers are often faced with criminal charges and jail time for decisions they have to make in split second.Mental & Physical Toll: The cumulative stress of dealing with trauma, conflict, and danger significantly impacts officers’ well-being. Compensation must reflect these unique factors. Basing police pay on fire department pay, rather than the police market, hinders our ability to attract and retain the best officers for Mesquite.Promotional Opportunities
While initial compensation for police officers and firefighters are forced into pay parity, the fire department rank structure also includes the Driver/Engineer position as an additional promotional tier with associated financial benefits. Police officers do not have an equal promotional position.
This creates an extra promotional opportunity with salary advancement within fire departments that the police department does not. Consequently, the existence of this extra promotional level typically results in a higher proportion of firefighters in promoted ranks than police officers which exacerbates the pay issue experienced between police officers and firefighters in Mesquite.
Our Position:
Fair Compensation Based on Market Analysis
Mandating pay parity forces one department’s compensation to be dictated by the other’s, regardless of market conditions, recruitment needs, or job specifics. This is detrimental to building and maintaining the strongest possible City Services for the Citizens of Mesquite.
We urge city leadership and residents to support a compensation strategy that treats police officers and firefighters as distinct, vital professions, ensuring each is compensated fairly and competitively based on their unique roles and the realities of their respective markets. This same concept should be used for all city staffing and employement.
Workforce Compensation: Police vs. Fire Positions & Pay
Police and Fire Department Ranked Positions and Pay
- Total Police Rank Pay – Police: $7,249,720
42 promotional positions from Sergeant through Assistant Chief - Total Fire Rank Pay – Fire: $15,891,020
94 promotional positions from Driver Engineer through Assistant Chief
Key Differences in Rank Pay & Promotional Opportunities:
- Difference in Rank Pay (Fire vs. Police)
Fire Department rank pay is $8,641,300 more than Police, more than double that of Police - Difference in Promotional Positions (Fire vs. Police):
The Fire Department has 52 more promotional opportunities than the Police Department.
Overall Department Positions and Pay (Excluding Chief Positions):
- Total Overall Fire Pay: $33,118,820 for 247 positions
- Total Overall Police Pay: $32,021,720 for 263 positions
The Fire Department is paid $1,097,000 more in salaries despite having fewer positions than the Police Department.
The Mesquite Police Association Advocates For
Separate Compensation Structures: MPD and MFD compensation should be determined independently, based on thorough market analysis of comparable cities for each respective profession.
Market-Competitive Salaries: Police officer salaries must be competitive within the law enforcement market utilizing the list provided by city policy to ensure Mesquite can recruit and retain highly qualified officers.
Recognition of Job Differences: Compensation should acknowledge the distinct duties, call volumes, risks, and training requirements of police officers compared to firefighters.
Fairness for ALL First Responders: We support competitive and fair compensation for our MFD colleagues based on their market comparisons and job demands. Our argument is against an artificial linkage, not against fair pay for firefighters.