Jerry Martin, 37, is trying to pay bills and save for retirement.
To do that, the West Helena fireman works three jobs.
He works 24 hours at the Fire Department and then has 48 hours "off." That’s when he puts in his hours at Radio Shack and helps out at his family’s funeral home. On the side, he runs his own trucking business and does car repairs at home.
Many firefighters, police officers and sheriff ’s deputies throughout Arkansas work seven days a week — full time at their public-safety jobs and then part time at second jobs to make ends meet.
The salaries the cities and the counties provide just don’t cover living expenses. And plenty of businesses seek their services, especially for security and traffic control.
At times, Martin’s three jobs put a strain on his family. "He’s in and out all the time," said his wife, Tammy Martin. She tries to compensate by bringing the couple’s children by her husband’s workplaces to visit.
And she encourages her children to stay in school and enter a field in which they can earn enough money to work just one job.
The next town over, in Helena, David Lawman serves child-support papers the days he’s not working as chief deputy at the Phillips County sheriff’s office. The flexible hours of that second job allow him to respond to urgent needs, such as a homicide investigation.
Often, Lawman and his wife, Ramona, turn serving child-support papers into a weekend trip. She drives while he navigates and types on a laptop.
Yes, he’d rather be fishing, but Lawman said the second job at least allows him to meet people and see more of the state.
The North Little Rock Police Department and the Pulaski County sheriff’s office have policies on second jobs. Both prohibit officers from working at establishments were the primary business is the sale of alcohol. "We don’t want them to be bouncers in a club," said Danny Bradley, the North Little Rock police chief and president of the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police.
If the second job hinders the full-time law enforcement job, supervisors will have a discussion with the officer.
Permission for an off-duty job may even be revoked, said Bradley, adding that he did not recall that happening in North Little Rock in the past few years.
Finding qualified public-safety officers who are willing to work at the current pay levels is difficult, Bradley said. He said he goes through 60 to 70 applicants to fill two or three open positions.
Salaries vary around the state.
The Hempstead County sheriff’s office employs five deputies at $22,200 and a chief deputy at $28,700, according to a 2004 Association of Arkansas Counties survey.
In Fort Smith, police patrolmen earn $36,816 and lieutenants $55,244, according to a 2004 Arkansas Municipal League survey.
In Conway, firefighters earn $29,795 and the assistant fire chief $52,654, according to the league’s survey.
When officers are promoted to higher ranks, they earn more money and are sometimes able to work fewer hours at outside jobs.
The first eight years that Eric Holloway worked at the Pulaski County sheriff’s office, he often provided security for Dillard’s, car dealers or firework stands. For a while, as a single father supporting a daughter, he often worked 80 hours a week. "You feel like you’re missing out on a part of your life," he said.
When Holloway did get to see his daughter, she clung to him.
A few years later Holloway had worked his way up to lieutenant and married a construction-management consultant who earns more than he does. Now, he said, he feels lucky to be able to do the job he loves while maximizing time with his family. "When I’m there, I’m really there," he said.
Many public-safety officers work shifts, including nights and weekends. When they add second jobs to their schedules, it means their free time often comes while their loved ones are at work or school.
Philip Van Winkle works Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Bay Police Department in Craighead County. He patrols from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. and then handles calls until 7 a.m. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, he works for Bay Street Department from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., picking up brush and repairing leaks.
He usually catches just a nap on Mondays before patrolling. If few calls come in, he can sleep some from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. at home because the police calls are transferred to his home.
Van Winkle also is a volunteer fireman.
Many law enforcement officers need another job to pay child support, said Allen Hamby, president of the Arkansas State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police. Because of the stress of the job, he said, many officers ’ marriages end in divorce.
Hamby says that cities and counties should pay public-safety officers more for the dangerous work and for making life and death decisions. That’s why it is important to have officials in the city and county government who value the work public-safety officers provide, Hamby said. Chuck Lange, the executive director of the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association, suggested the state pay officers for getting law enforcement certificates. But he said state officials are unlikely to support the program, estimated to cost $7 million. "It’s a grand profession. There just needs to be more money in it," Lange said.
Kevin McMasters, president of the Arkansas State Firefighters Association, suggested one reason that cities, already paying for trucks and other expensive firefighting equipment, don’t pay firemen more. "We don’t generate any revenue," he said.
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