SEATTLE — Mayor Bruce Harrell announced Wednesday that the city and the Seattle Police Officers Guild have reached a tentative agreement for a new contract through 2027.
However, the two sides could not come to an agreement on changes to the discipline appeal process. Those negotiations will move to an interest arbitrator.
If the new contract is approved by the City Council, Seattle officers will receive a retroactive 6% pay increase for 2024, with another 4% in 2025. Increases of 2.7% and between 3% to 4% will follow in 2026 and 2027. Premiums of 1.5% will be offered to officers with a relevant associate’s degree or bilingual skills, and 4% to officers with a bachelor’s degree.
The agreement increases base pay for officers to $118,000 a year.
A press release from the city also highlights changes to how disciplinary processes and timelines are calculated and tracked. The new contract will also allow supervisors to be able to discipline their reporting officers for minor performance or misconduct issues. Harrell said supervisors were previously allowed to investigate such instances, but were not allowed to take action on their own, even if they did discover misconduct.
The main focus of a press conference announcing the new agreement on Wednesday was an expansion of the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) department, which will become its own entity and double in size from 24 to 48 responders. Community Crisis Responders (CCRs) will be allowed to dispatch solo to low-acuity 911 calls, and also respond to more types of emergency calls than before.
PREVIOUSLY: Seattle expands CARE responders to South, Southwest neighborhoods
CCRs will be the primary dispatch for calls related to a person in a behavioral health crisis, requests for shelter, food or transportation resources, and reports of a person who appears to be in physical distress. CCRs will now co-respond to calls related to overdoses, welfare checks related to drug use, and certain lower-priority nuisance calls.
The next step is for the full Seattle City Council to vote on whether or not to approve the contract proposal.
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