University of Delaware Police Department entry pay

About University of Delaware

University of Delaware Police Department is a CALEA-accredited agency providing police services to the Newark campus around the clock, every day of the year. Its patrol division works four squads each led by a sergeant, and each squad works a rotating shift so officers experience every facet of policing; officers are also assigned a specific sector as their primary area of responsibility so they come to know their sub-communities. A criminal investigation unit of five detectives handles significant incidents and houses the department's crime analysis function, and a community resource unit of three officers runs a credited student internship programme. The department covers more than 450 events a year, including home football games, concerts and commencements, and provides security for visiting dignitaries. It operates one of only nine Public Safety Answering Points in Delaware, handling over 19,000 calls for service a year, and maintains a police presence at the Wilmington campus and the Hugh R. Sharp campus at Lewes, where a state-commissioned constable supervises security officers.

Shifts at University of Delaware

Where the figure comes from

Checked 16 August 2026. University of Delaware and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 7 — Collective Bargaining Agreement, 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028, Appendix B — open the source document
University of Delaware police officers are covered by an agreement with FOP Lodge No. 7 running to 30 June 2028. A Police Officer in their first year earns $74,679 from 1 July 2026, rising through twenty-five years of service to $106,753, with the scale reflecting an eight per cent annual increase. Patrol officers work a fixed rotation of 161 hours in a twenty-eight day period on twelve-hour shifts, which comes to 2,093 hours a year, and are credited thirteen hours of compensatory time each June to account for the excess over 2,080. Officers receive a patrol shift differential of $2,000 a year, tuition remission covering two family members, and may retire after twenty-five years.
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more than this.

How this level compares

Where University of Delaware sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.

How it ranks

Common questions

How much does a University of Delaware Police Department officer make?

University of Delaware Police Department starts a new officer on $74,679 a year, about $35.90 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from University of Delaware and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 7 — Collective Bargaining Agreement, 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028, Appendix B.

Is that good pay for a police officer in Delaware?

It ranks #3 of 14 agencies we have verified in Delaware — 11 pay less, 2 pay more in the state — and #570 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $6,289 above, and against other special jurisdiction agencies $14,484 above.

What shifts do University of Delaware Police Department officers work?

UD's patrol division works four squads, each led by a sergeant, and each squad works a rotating shift so officers experience every facet of policing — alongside more than 450 events a year. That is the agency's own published wording; the pattern is drawn on this page.

The agencies either side of it