Committee reviews two police bargaining agreements with pay increases and retention provisions

The committee reviewed and approved language to move forward with two collective bargaining agreements affecting police communications staff.

Human resources staff said the civilian bargaining unit (ordinance 371‑2026) covers roughly 113 employees and includes 3% increases for each year of the contract, an additional 2% increase for bilingual employees, an increased shift differential from $0.35 to $0.47 per hour, and provisions allowing certain rehired dispatchers to retain seniority. The HR director said the goal is to recruit and retain dispatchers and described revisions to vacation/furlough provisions that align with non‑bargaining employees.

Councilman Michael Polenson asked how many dispatch vacancies exist and requested that the administration provide vacancy counts and application information so the public can help recruit for open positions. The HR director said he would provide that information.

A related agreement (ordinance 376‑2026) for chief dispatchers (about 11 employees) includes similar pay and shift‑differential changes; the committee approved that ordinance and will forward the larger CPPA civilian contract to full council for consideration during the evening session.