Following 17 meetings and bargaining sessions over the last month, Long Beach city council unanimously approved the three-year, $28.78 million Memorandum of Understanding with the Long Beach police officer’s bargaining unit Tuesday night.
The agreement, which expires in September of 2025, includes wage increases for the department, modified skills pay for certain officers, recruitment and retention bonuses, longevity pay for those who have been with the LBPD for at least 10 years, bilingual pay increases, police officer referral bonuses, updated military leave policies and more.
Rich Chambers, president of the Long Beach Police Officers Association, said it will help address staffing retention and recruitment issues, the “most critical issues” the department is facing at the moment.
“The number of people applying to the academy is lower than ever,” Chambers said. “We think this contract takes a solid and important step toward making sure the Long Beach Police Department can remain competitive in the hiring market.”
The City’s general fund shortfall—money already budgeted that Long Beach still needs to gain—is now at $38.30 million for fiscal year 2024. The shortfall was previously at $28.1 million.
Long Beach police officers will receive wage increases of: 5.5% effective Oct. 8, 2022; 3.5% effective Oct. 7, 2023; and 2.5% effective Oct. 5, 2024. Active, full-time employees—police recruits not included—will also receive a $5,000 retention bonus on Oct. 5, 2024.
“Retirements and resignations have outpaced hiring over the last several years and has created a lot of vacancies in our ranks… I think the competitive pay will also attract lateral officers, which is always good because they can get started and put into service right away.”
Councilmember Cindy Allen
Police officers, corporals, sergeants and lieutenants who have held one of those positions for at least 10 years will receive a 5% increase from the base hourly pay. Those who have held an aforementioned position for at least 15 years will receive a 7.5% increase in pay, and those who hold 20 years under their belt will receive a 10% increase in pay.
“This is a process that is painstaking that we go through every few years but this contract … I’m very confident will help us with recruitment and retention of valued employees in the city that do very important work,” Councilmember Al Austin said. “The priority of the government is to ensure that our residents are safe and healthy and this workforce is obviously important to our mission.”
Positions that will receive pay increases include homicide detectives (12.5%), police officers routinely placed on patrol (3%), officers that regularly provide relief to those patrolling (3%) and bilingual officers (80 cents to $1.20 per hour). Eligible second languages include Spanish, Khmer, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Samoan, American Sign Language or other languages designated by the City Manager.
Officers are now eligible to receive referral bonuses for bringing in successful police recruits. A member of the police department can receive $3,000 for successful entry-level recruits and $4,000 for lateral police officer recruits.
“One of the biggest challenges facing many police departments, including Long Beach, is staffing,” Councilmember Cindy Allen said. “Retirements and resignations have outpaced hiring over the last several years and has created a lot of vacancies in our ranks… I think the competitive pay will also attract lateral officers, which is always good because they can get started and put into service right away.”
The bonuses will be paid in two parts—the first part when a recruit completes police academy or when a lateral officer completes six months in the Long Beach Police Department, and the second part when the officer completes their established probationary period. There is no limit to the amount of referrals an employee can submit.
The contract also includes vacation accrual policies for lateral officers, meaning those who have been sworn in as a police officer in a different department. Vacation accrual can be adjusted to give an officer credit for their previous services.
The cost of referral bonuses and vacation accrual is not included in the total cost of the contract, since it depends on how many officers participate and qualify for these benefits, according to a report from City staff.
“This is a contract that’s fair, it’s responsible and it absolutely works to address some of the real challenges in policing right now, it really speaks to our need internally, within our police department and the current team that we have,” Mayor Robert Garcia said. “It’s focusing on community, it’s focused on reform, it’s focused on serving the public, building trust.”
