Effective immediately, workers will get retroactive pay from March 16, and the first payout begins the week of April 20. The hazard pay will continue as long as the city is financially able to provide it.
Chief Diane Hobley-Burney presented a case to the city as to why she feels a bigger investment in the police department will reverse turnover trends.
Most of the $74 million allocated in the governor's proposed budget for pay hikes goes to public safety agencies such as corrections officers and highway patrol. Pay raises at other agencies are awarded only to those employees certified by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.
Seattle is coming armed with much better salaries and more frequent raises. Starting salary for a police officer in Honolulu is $65,592 per year versus $81,444 for a newly sworn officer in Seattle. For veteran officers, the pay gap is even larger.
The starting pay for police officers and fire-rescue workers will now be $60,000, according to the Dallas Morning News.
According to the news release, a recent arbitration hearing affirmed that BSO has been underpaying its employees for hours worked.
This week, the United States Senate passed a 1.9% pay raise for federal employees in 2019. But it's not a done deal.
Highway Patrol Col. Mike Rapich has observed what he calls a “wage war” among agencies competing for personnel. “We’re in a really aggressive recruiting effort,” he says, “probably more so than I’ve seen in the 25 years I’ve been with the agency.”
To avoid needlessly recruiting additional officers, agencies are working to keep current officers happy in their careers.
When the St. Paul (MN) Police Department was hiring four years ago, 794 people applied to be officers. This time around, there were only 178 applicants and now the department has extended the deadline to Monday, hoping to attract more quality candidates.