The new tentative labor agreement between the City of LA and most of its police officers is estimated to cost taxpayers an additional $384 million annually by the 4th year of the agreement, according to an analysis provided to the City Council ahead of a vote on the officers' new contract.
The LAPD's share of the City budget would need to increase by $123-million this year, another $75-million in 2024-2025, another $91-million in 2025-2026, and an additional $95-million in 2026-2027.
Each year's increases are cumulative, according to several City officials, meaning the total added cost to the City will be approximately $994-million by the end of the 4 year term, not including overtime pay.
Yesterday several members of the LA City Council told NBC LA that the total cost would be $384-million total over 4 years.
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The LAPD, which already costs the City nearly $1.9 billion annually (already the largest single line-item expenditure in the City budget), has been losing officers in recent years to retirements and transfers faster than it can hire, with staffing briefly dropping below 9,000 in recent weeks, the fewest officers on the payroll in decades.
The analysis from the City Administrative Officer recommends the Council vote to approve the agreement:
"By simultaneously increasing starting salaries and adding retention pay for officers with less than ten years of service, the proposed You will provide greater incentive for newly minted officers to remain with the LAPD, which will have an immediate impact on recruitment and retention," wrote City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo (scroll down for memo below).
In an email Councilman Bob Blumenfield's office said, “To meet our hiring goals, we need to retain the officers we train. It’s unacceptable that other cities simply poach our officers and it’s time for LA to be more competitive in terms of pay and incentives. If adopted, starting salaries will be much closer to our neighboring municipalities- this is a critical step toward meeting our LAPD staffing goals.”
By the numbers
- The proposed contract would boost LAPD's starting salary from one of the lowest among local agencies, $80,436, to above the median, at $86,193, a 12.6% increase
- New officers who graduate from the police academy and remain employed at LAPD for at least 3 years will earn $15,000 in bonuses, while officers who transfer to LAPD from other agencies and stay for at least 3 years will earn $20,000 in bonuses
- Adds 12% general cost of living raises over 4 years, plus significant increases in retention pay for more experienced officers.
Not just the LAPD
Several other members of Council said they planned to hold a news conference ahead of the vote early Wednesday to discuss their concerns with the expense of the tentative contract and its fairness -- in light of other City employees' demands for higher wages and complaints about being overworked.
The City reported an average 21% vacancy rate across all departments earlier this year, and the incentives being offered to police could be seen as a roadmap for demands from other City employee labor unions -- that recently organized a one-day strike amidst contract negotiations.
Councilwoman Eunissess Hernandez was the lone no vote on the City's overall 2023-2024 budget, saying she was disappointed so much money was still being allocated to police.
“When we have a budget that has 25% of our money going to policing, we're not creating a budget that is reflective of our values and the demands that we get every day from our constituents,” she said earlier this summer.
Councilwoman Hernandez and Council members Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martinez planned to address the contract Wednesday morning before the Council's personnel committee and the full Council vote.
The tentative contract for officers includes a new provision that the City can work on plans for non-police, unarmed response programs without first negotiating the terms with the officers' union, the Los Angeles Police Protective League. The 2023-2024 budget has earmarked about $16-million toward development of these, 'alternative crisis response,' programs, double what was spent in 2022-2023.
“Responsibly restoring the ranks of the LAPD is a goal we share with Mayor Bass and the overwhelming majority of the City Council," the Protective League's Board of Directors said Tuesday.
"This contract represents a smart investment designed to keep Angelenos safe by providing incentives to retain experienced officers and to recruit qualified candidates to enter the police academy so that the downward staffing trend can be reversed.”
