St. Louis, MO – The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD), City of St. Louis Department of Personnel, Mayor’s Office and the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association (SLPOA) have reached an agreement that will provide a 7% pay increase for police officers and sergeants. The negotiations were voted on and approved by the SLPOA membership.
The years of service matrix has been trimmed from a maximum of 30 years to 20 years under the new agreement, allowing for more substantial pay increases to help retain police officers and recruit future ones. Police officers and sergeants will continue to receive their service increases.
The current pay for officers upon graduation from the Police Academy is $53,196 and the new salary is $56,920.
“With this new pay raise in place, we will continue to work to recruit and retain officers to the force,” said St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. “The best thing we can do to help our officers is give them more colleagues, and that – in addition to showing our appreciation – is what we hope to accomplish with this raise for our officers.”
Under the new bargaining agreement, the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association agreed to reduce the number of commissioned personnel from 1,224 officers to 1,100 officers.
“This is a strategic move by everyone at the table while ensuring public safety is the top priority,” said SLMPD Chief Robert Tracy. “Everyone involved agreed by trimming the number of budgeted officers, a 7% pay increase could be implemented, allowing us to attract new recruits to this noble profession.”
While this new agreement is aimed to address immediate needs as the SLPOA, Department of Personnel, SLMPD Administration, and the Mayor’s Office are scheduled to start meeting in the matter of weeks on ways to make the SLMPD competitive with police agencies across the region.
The bargaining agreement will be sent to the Civil Service Commission for approval before being sent to the Board of Alderman and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.
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