Detroit Police Unions Approve New Contracts
Detroit police, woefully underpaid, have overwhelmingly accepted the first pay raise offered by the city in years.
Detroit officials say unions representing the city’s police force have overwhelmingly ratified a new contract.
City officials have long admitted that Detroit police are woefully underpaid, to the point where the force is losing roughly 15 officers each month to retirement or other jobs.
Now the city’s three police unions have voted to accept a 4% across-the-board pay increase and extend their contracts until 2020.
That means a starting police officer’s salary will rise from around $32,000 a year to about $36,000.
The city is also offering an extra 2% pay increase to any officer who completes two years of college and Detroit will provide them with $2,000 a year in tuition assistance.
The new contracts must still be approved by the Detroit City Council and the state-appointed Financial Review Commission.
