AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: May 10, 2022
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Mark G. Stainbrook, Chief of Police
Subject: REQUEST BY MAYOR BOSSE TO CONSIDER SALARY INCREASES
FOR SWORN POLICE EMPLOYEES OF THE POLICE OFFICERS
ASSOCIATION AND POLICE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION - FIRST
PUBLIC MEETING TO SOLICIT PUBLIC INPUT
Attachments: NONE
RECOMMENDATION
The Council receives public comment related to the compensation of the City’s sworn Police employees of the Police Officers Association (POA) and Police Management Association (PMA).
INTRODUCTION
Tonight's meeting is the formal meeting where the public may provide input to the Council regarding the compensation of the City’s sworn Police employees.
The City’s Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the POA, which includes sworn Police Officers and Police Sergeants, and the PMA, which includes sworn Police Captains and Police Lieutenants, both expire on April 7, 2023. As part of these MOU’s, the last compensation increase was a 2% salary increase effective the pay period including October 1, 2021. There are no other compensation increases scheduled through the end of the current term of these MOU’s, scheduled to expire on April 7, 2023.
Per the request of Mayor Bosse, this meeting is to consider salary increases for the sworn employees of the POA and PMA.
DISCUSSION
In light of the current priorities related to public safety, the compensation of our sworn Police employees is an important factor to achieving the goals set forth by the City Council. An area of particular and critical focus is the recruitment of Police Officers, which is an industry challenge faced by many agencies at this time. All agencies are competing for the same limited pool of candidates which requires the City to be more competitive and set itself apart to attract top talent. While the City of Beverly Hills F-1
Meeting Date: May 10, 2022
currently offers competitive compensation, it does not rank the highest in base salary within the Southern California labor market. The City of Beverly Hills ranks third out of 14 agencies in Police Officer base salary, with the Orange County Sheriffs ranking number one and the City of Santa Monica at number two. Base salary is a significant factor for candidates as they are exploring the many options currently available in law enforcement. When offering less base salary than other agencies, Beverly Hills may not be as appealing, negatively impacting our ability to compete for top candidates. With the number of Police Officer positions currently vacant, and in order to ensure we retain those we hire, a salary increase to improve our position in the market is anticipated to have a positive impact on our ability to recruit and retain the top talent in law enforcement.
Considering the current MOU’s do not expire until April of next year, and do not include any salary increases for the remainder of the term, the City’s position in the market will be further weakened as other agencies with negotiated salary increases improve their position. Providing salary increases now is critical to address the immediate needs related to the recruitment and retention of sworn Police Officers.
In addition to the external market, another consideration is internal parity with the City’s sworn Firefighters. Currently, a City of Beverly Hills Police Officer earns approximately 10% less in base salary than a City of Beverly Hills Firefighter. The city’s Firefighters are scheduled to receive a 2% increase this October and another 2% increase in October 2023 (the Fire MOU expires May 30, 2025), furthering the disparity in the base salary of our sworn Police and Fire employees. Generally in most agencies, Police Officers earn the same if not more than Firefighters. Being the City of Beverly Hills equally values the significant and important work of our sworn Police and Fire employees, salary increases for our sworn Police employees at this time would achieve internal parity with all of our sworn safety employees.
With the above factors in mind, my recommendation would be to establish new MOU’s with both the POA and PMA with the following terms:
Term: 3 years
Salary Increase: 14% over the three year term
This recommendation would achieve (1) internal parity with the city’s sworn police and fire employees and (2) a number one market ranking in base salary for recruitment and retention purposes. In consideration for these terms, the POA and PMA would both agree to changes in their MOU that would provide the Chief the ability to address operational issues that would improve the utilization of department resources resulting in more Officers on patrol.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with soliciting input at this time. The on-going annual cost of a 14% base salary increase for the POA and PMA will be approximately $4.5 million. The timing of the increases will determine when this full annual cost is realized. An independent fiscal analysis will be performed on the City’s costing when the final terms of the MOUs are known.
Mark G. Stainbrook,
Chief of Police
Approved By