After paying rent, Department of Public Safety officer Demetrea Hardiman took a screenshot of her bank account funds and sent it to her supervisor. She only had $78 for the next two weeks, when she would receive her next paycheck. Hardiman works two jobs to support herself while taking classes at Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. 

Hardiman is an active community service officer in her 18th year at USC. She lives in Los Angeles and has a 10-year-old daughter. Hardiman had to send her daughter to live with her other parent in Texas because she couldn’t financially support both of them. This led her to neglect her own needs as well as her daughter’s, Hardiman said. 

“How can you survive when you pay all [your living expenses] and have less than 100 bucks in the bank account? It’s heartbreaking, I’m holding back tears to think that my child is not even here because I can’t support her,” she said.  

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There are two types of DPS officers: the public safety officers, trained at a California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training-accredited academy, and the CSOs, who do not attend the academy but are still trained by the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. 

CSOs are unarmed officers with security guard-level authority who wear a light blue shirt with navy pants. PSOs are armed and can arrest offenders while on duty as peace officers, and they wear a navy blue shirt and pants. While PSOs make $41.47 to $51.30 per hour, entry-level CSOs earn $21 per hour.  

According to claims by multiple CSOs and PSOs whom the Daily Trojan interviewed, PSOs recently received a $3 raise, while CSOs received a 62-cent raise, which they said was a 5% increase over the course of 10 years. 

Assistant DPS Chief David Carlisle said the pay difference between the two types of officers isn’t a discrepancy because they represent completely different jobs and responsibilities. He said the pay rate of DPS officers is based on their job description and required certifications and that both CSOs and PSOs have received salary increases. 

“Periodically, the University will conduct a salary survey of officers working in a similar role to what our public safety officers do and are responsible for, as well as doing salary surveys for other unarmed security officers as CSOs at other universities to see how we compare, and then they make adjustments,” he said.

While CSOs and PSOs require different levels of training and therefore receive different pay, some DPS officers — both CSO and PSO — are upset with the pay rate they receive and the lack of raises they have. 

A PSO who has been working at USC for over 20 years asked for anonymity for fear of retaliation after speaking out. He said DPS officers aren’t seen as police. Instead, they are seen as security guards, even though Los Angeles Police Department officers and DPS officers have similar duties. 

Hardiman and other DPS officers are claiming the pay they receive, including a recent raise, doesn’t represent the demands of being an officer, the anonymous PSO said. 

“[The University] don’t want to compare us to police agencies. They want to compare us to high-profile, paid security guards, but we’re way more than that,” the anonymous PSO said. “We’re first responders. With protests, we’re out there with helmets and everything else. I’m sure most students don’t know who we are because they are like, ‘Are you police or DPS?’” 

The anonymous PSO officer said that whatever LAPD officers go through, they also go through, including most of their training and responsibilities. 

“When it’s a burglary, robbery, we’ll go handle it. When we’re dealing with 5150 calls — mental illness — we are handling it. But for them to say we’re not first responders, what are we then? It’s sad to hear that from our HR. These are the people that do the research and work on our pay, and they don’t know what we do,” the anonymous PSO said. 

According to the officers’ claims, there was a Human Resources meeting on Aug. 29 where the HR staff members explained the raise and different pay rates of DPS officers. A CSO officer who asked for anonymity due to fear of retaliation said she asked HR if they knew what the CSOs do, to which she did not get a response. 

“Every week is always something new. Something more that we have to do and more that we have to give. And our pay doesn’t match the job that we do,” the anonymous PSO said. 

Both officers work four days a week for 10-hour shifts and during some holidays and University breaks. The officers can be called in during emergencies, even on their days off. There is no differential pay for night shifts, according to the anonymous PSO. The officers said the job is hard on their bodies, especially during the graveyard shift, 9 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.  

Hardiman said both types of officers had been waiting for a raise since the coronavirus pandemic and were continuously told that this raise would come. 

“I took it as an insult after working here for 18 years and working a shift that is very hard on the mind, body and soul,” she said.

When the raise did come, Hardiman was exhausted because of how low it was.

“It’s a slap in the face when we are waiting for this jump in pay, and you give us 62 cents. What are we supposed to do with that?” she said.

Two anonymous DPS officers said they enjoy working at USC and helping students. However, the work environment and pay that DPS officers receive make it hard for the job to sustain a healthy life, both mentally and physically, the anonymous PSO said.

“Working nights, it’s not healthy,” said the anonymous PSO. “Your body is supposed to shut down at night. When I’m coming to work, [I] drink coffee and energy drinks just to stay up throughout the night. When I’m off [work], I’m like a zombie because I’m tired. I’m exhausted.” 

Hardiman said Chief Lauretta Hill attended a briefing where the officers asked questions about surviving on their salary and the small raise they received. Hill said she was an advocate for the officers, Hardiman said. 

“But what does that mean?” Hardiman said. “We’re struggling. Do they care? They haven’t shown an interest in caring. Whether it’s our physical, emotional or mental health. They don’t check in.” 

The anonymous CSO is taking a leave of absence primarily due to the work environment and pay as a DPS officer. She said she is lucky to go on leave and have a partner who can support her and her children, but not all the officers are that lucky. 

“I want to cry right now thinking about it,” the anonymous CSO officer said. “It’s been so hard for me to accept the fact that I am no longer going to work at USC. It’s horrible. I love my job. I love helping people. This is my home.”