LAPD, union tentatively OK contract with raises for officers
Despite the city’s ongoing fiscal woes, police officers in Los Angeles will receive a considerable pay raise in coming years, according to a tentative contract agreement reached Friday.
The proposed three-year contract calls for the roughly 9,900 rank-and-file officers to forgo a pay increase in the fiscal year that begins Friday and receive incremental pay hikes over the next two years, according to a summary obtained by The Times.
At the start of the second year, officers’ pay would rise 1% and then jump 2% midway through the year. Over the course of the third year, officers would receive two 1% increases and then a 2% increase.
An officer with a base annual salary of $75,000 would be paid nearly $80,400 at the end of the proposed contract.
The tentative agreement also leaves in place bonuses and incentives that officers can earn for reaching certain ranks or taking particular assignments. In addition, the subsidy the city pays to officers each month to offset healthcare costs would stay at $1,060 for the first year of the contract and rise as much as 5% in each of the following years.
The agreement also would relax the rules governing overtime work. Because there is no money to pay officers cash for overtime work, the current contract forces officers to take time off when they accrue about 250 hours of overtime — a cap that has sent hundreds of officers home each month. The new contract would raise that cap to 600 hours.
Union and police officials refused to comment on the proposed deal. City officials confirmed the terms but declined to make any other comment.
The agreement marks a significant victory for officers, who stand to get raises while other city workers are agreeing to pay cuts. City officials had said they needed to extract concessions to help close a $41-million hole in the LAPD’s upcoming budget. It was not immediately clear what effect, if any, the proposed contract would have on that shortfall.
Beginning Saturday, Police Protective League officials are scheduled to hold a series of ratification meetings, where officers will vote on the contract.
Los Angeles Times staff writer Kate Linthicum contributed to this report.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
