San Francisco Police Department reaches tentative deal with city for 14% raise over 4 years

By Andrea Nakano

The city and the San Francisco Police Department have reached a tentative deal, which will take them through the next four years.

The deal is a 14% raise, which comes out to just 3.5% a year. While many are praising the agreement, some are wondering what the tradeoffs will be.

The deal to offer a 14% raise over the next four years was unanimously approved by the San Francisco Police Board of Directors. It still needs the vote of rank and file, and the Board of Supervisors.

Sam Singer, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Officers Association, says the raise recognizes the hard work of the officers and helps to recruit and retain the officers the city needs.

“What’s important about this contract is that it honors the officers who are working for the San Francisco Police Department,” Singer said. “It shows the respect and the amount of time they put in. And the dedication they have to their jobs. It’s also within line of the Mayor’s and the city’s budget for the coming year.”

SPUR, a nonprofit public policy organization in San Francisco, dug a little deeper into the numbers. With the city facing roughly a $900 million deficit over the next two years, SPUR’s report says these negotiations can have a big impact on the overall budget. The report assumed the consumer price index at about 3% and looked at what the tradeoffs would be.

“If it’s any bit lower, the deficit will come down,” SPUR CEO Sean Elsbernd said. “But if it comes down, or if you pay less, you’re probably going to have a really tough time recruiting and the number of officers is going to go down. So, if you want to address that, you pay more than CPI. If you pay more than CPI, you’ll attract more officers but you’re going to increase your debt.”

While police and fire contracts are up this year, other city employees will be negotiating deals next year. Elsbernd wonders what kind of standard this sets for those negotiations.

“If I’m a bus driver, if I’m a nurse, if I’m a laborer, if I’m an electrician, I’m going to say, ‘Oh, police and fire got 3%, oh I should get 3%,'” he said. “It’s very difficult for the city to say no, we think police and fire are more important, you should only get 2%.”

The deal is expected to be finalized early next month. The police officer’s association says the agreement sends a clear message that San Francisco values its officers and it better positions them to improve public safety.

“Mayor Lurie has made public safety his number one priority and it has bolstered the ranks of the San Francisco Police Department,” Singer said.