You'd think that police officers in Durham would be paid competitively. The city's more entrenched social challenges compared to the rest of the region -- a high poverty rate being the leading one -- promise to keep crime high on the community's list of worries, and retaining a premium police force should be a priority. Yet Police Chief Jose Lopez told City Council members recently that Durham was losing officers to neighboring cities due to higher salaries.

Lopez clearly meant to urge the council, as it crafts next year's budget, to set aside more money for police salaries. The council should be receptive to that message. A police officer's job is tough regardless of the jurisdiction, and it still takes a special person and mind set to carry the shield.

In fact, urban police departments increasingly are finding it harder to identify and attract qualified candidates. Durham and other Triangle departments haven't been immune to that trend. Low pay makes that task even harder in Durham, which long has had a reputation for spending the extra money to recruit and train rookies, only to watch officers leave a few years later for blue-greener pastures. Starting police salaries in Durham are a few thousand dollars lower than in many towns in the Triangle and state.

Retention is especially important for community policing. It takes time for a neighborhood to get to know and trust an officer. That hard work must start all over again when the officer is lured away by a better paycheck. Durham's fight against crime doesn't need the added burden of fighting to keep crime fighters.