Laura Glesby Photo
Union Prez Cotto and Chief Jacobson: “This is a game changer.”
A proposed new six-year police union contract would boost not only salaries but also officers’ morale and mental health, thanks in part to an overhauled time-off system in the agreement.
Police Chief Karl Jacobson made that pitch on Tuesday evening to the Board of Alders Finance Committee, which unanimously voted to recommend the tentative labor deal’s approval.
The full Board of Alders will vote on the contract at their second November meeting.
The city’s police officers have worked without a contract for over two years. In the meantime, the department has struggled to recruit officers and fill vacant budgeted positions. Currently, according to Jacobson, New Haven employs 328 officers and has 61 vacant budgeted positions.
“This is a game changer for us,” Jacobson said, referring to the contract, during Tuesday’s Finance Committee meeting in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor of City Hall.
The proposed six-year contract would officially extend from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2028. It would increase the city’s expenses by about $6.8 million this fiscal year, largely due to proposed salary raises. The city currently budgets $31,435,859 for police salaries.
The contract would issue retroactive 2.5 percent raises for the last two fiscal years (including overtime). Then, beginning this fiscal year, union members would receive a 5 percent annual raise until the contract’s end.
Additionally, the contract would bump up officers’ starting salaries to $70,000 as of this fiscal year — a nearly $20,000 raise from the current starting salary of $50,745, making New Haven among the highest-paying districts for new officers in the state. (Entry-level police jobs start at about $65,500 in Hartford, $72,000 in Waterbury, and $86,832 in New London, for comparison.)
The agreement also includes a provision for current police union members who are eligible to retire: it enables them to begin collecting pension payments in a separate Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) account for up to five years while continuing to work for the city and earn their salary. The DROP funds would be collectible upon the officers’ actual retirement.
Board President Tyisha Walker-Myers praised the DROP plan in particular as a “really smart” way to retain officers with experience.
Current trends indicate that “we will have a really young, new police force,” said Walker-Myers. “The reality of that is concerning to me.”
According to Jacobson, word of the proposed pay increases have already made an impact on the department’s ability to retain staff. Earlier in the year he had predicted losing 39 officers, he said; now that a proposed contract is on the table, that number is down to 7.
“I can already feel the difference in the police department,” he said.
Local Police Union President Florencio Cotto echoed this sentiment. “We were in serious trouble in terms of staffing,” he said. While the contract is not likely to bolster staff “overnight,” he added, “it’s definitely going to help us in the right direction.”
On top of these pay and benefit increases, Jacobson called attention to a schedule change included in the proposed contract: a schedule in which patrol officers receive three days off after every five days of work.
Currently, the department operates on a 5 – 3, 5 – 2 schedule, meaning that officers get one three-day off period and one two-day off period after alternating five-day work periods — while receiving a total of seven flexible off days they can take in addition.
Under the proposed new contract, officers would lose those seven flexible days, but gain an additional three-day off period — a net increase in days off.
According to Jacobson, this schedule change is a significant one. “We will be one of the first police departments” to adopt this kind of schedule, he said. “We are making a commitment to the time off needed to help them deal with a job like this.” The schedule, he argued, would promote better work-life balance and overall well-being among officers.
It may lead to one or two fewer police officers working per shift, Jacobson said. He argued that this change is worth it from the city’s perspective, because the department will have more predictability in officers’ schedules.
He added that this schedule is not expected to contribute to increased overtime costs for the city. (Overtime expenses are expected to rise as wages go up, though if the department succeeds in hiring more staff, these costs will eventually go down.)
“I was particularly moved by our chief’s talk about the mental health of our officers,” reflected Finance Committee Chair Adam Marchand during the alders’ deliberations. “Our officers see a lot of things that can be hard to cope with.”
East Rock Alder Anna Festa and Board President Tyisha Walker-Myers.