Seattle cops in line for top pay

Seattle police officers could become the highest paid in the state if officers and City Council members ratify a new contract that's been nearly two years in the making.

The proposed pay-and-benefits package would be the largest raise ever for the roughly 1,180 officers, detectives and sergeants who belong to the Seattle Police Officers' Guild (SPOG).

The new contract would also incorporate 29 recommendations made by an expert panel earlier this year to improve the department's police-accountability system.

The tentative deal, reached late Wednesday, was made public Thursday afternoon.

"This helps us accomplish all our goals with the police department," said Marty McOmber, spokesman for Mayor Greg Nickels.

Based on current police contracts, the new deal would make Seattle police "the top-paid agency in the state," he said.

Officers would receive a 25.6 percent raise over the four years of the contract, which is retroactive to January 2007 and would expire at the end of 2010. Starting salaries for new recruits would immediately be raised 8 percent above the 25.6 percent raise for the rest of the membership, according to a news release issued by the mayor's office. There are no changes to the health-and-benefits package but officers' work shifts would be revised as part of the mayor's Neighborhood Policing Plan, which aims to disperse officers when and where they are needed.

Both the city and guild say the pay raises will help recruit new officers and keep veterans from leaving.

A 2005 survey showed the department at that time was 29th in the state in entry-level salary.

"Hopefully this will go a long ways towards improving the staffing and retention crisis we've been dealing with," said guild president Rich O'Neill.

Tim Burgess, a former Seattle police detective and chair of the City Council's public-safety committee, said the proposed agreement "represents a new beginning" in the often-contentious relations between the police union and City Hall.

He said the proposed pay increases are long overdue, noting that seven Seattle officers "have been sucked away" by other cities in the first three months of this year after Seattle "paid heavily for their training."

As for police accountability, O'Neill said some language was tweaked but otherwise, "the spirit of the recommendations ... came through."

O'Neill declined to provide details as to whether Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske will be required to provide written explanations when he disagrees with the OPA director over misconduct findings — one of the panel's key recommendations.

"Will the chief be explaining more than he has [in the past]? Yes, but there are protections for officers," he said.

Burgess said the guild agreed to a major change by increasing the authority of the city's civilian police auditor, former U.S. Attorney Kate Pflaumer.

"Probably the most significant part of that is she has been given the authority to further direct investigations in cases where she feels that is appropriate," he said.

Today, the guild plans to hold the first of three "informational meetings" to explain the contract's provisions to its members. Ballots will be mailed to officers on Monday, and they must be returned by May 11 to be included in a May 16 count, O'Neill said.

The City Council is expected to consider the deal in late May. A vote has not yet been scheduled.

Though it still needs to be ratified, the new contract signals the end of a long, bitter negotiating process that began in June 2006, six months before the last contract expired. For months, a state mediator tried to broker a deal — to no avail.

Then, in January, an expert panel appointed by Nickels released 29 recommendations aimed at improving the way the department investigates and punishes officers accused of misconduct. The guild agreed to discuss those recommendations, even though it claimed it wasn't obligated to do so until the next round of bargaining, in 2010.

A month later, the mayor's office infuriated officers after police commanders were sent to each precinct to disclose details of the city's proposed contract offer. The guild accused the city of breaking a confidentiality agreement, something the mayor's office denied, and talks broke off.

"We've decided to put it in the rearview mirror but ... people are still angry and it's going to take officers some time to get over that," O'Neill said.