PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An arbitration panel has awarded Philadelphia’s Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) a new three-year contract that includes raises and benefits the union sought, and changes to the disciplinary process that the city asked for.
“Today we can announce meaningful reforms that will improve the relationship between police and the community while keeping all of us safe,” Mayor Jim Kenney said.
This is the first contract since the George Floyd Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, so the focus was as much on reforms as on more traditional issues.
Both sides found reasons to be pleased with what the arbitrators decided.
“This is an award that I think is fair,” said FOP president John McNesby.
“There are some things in there that the city can utilize, and there are some things in there that we’re very happy about, so I think in the end it was a lot of hard work by both sides and I think both sides should be happy.”
Officers will get nearly 10% in raises, with a schedule of salary boosts including:
- 2.75% retroactive to July 1, 2021
- 3.5% on July 1, 2022
- 3.5% on July 2, 2023
They will also receive a $1,500 bonus, an additional holiday — Juneteenth — and four weeks parental leave.
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At the same time, the arbitrators included many of the reforms the city asked for, noting “…the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, along with other high-profile incidents involving police and people of color around the country and in Philadelphia, have led to community distrust of the police in many areas.”
“The Panel believes,” they wrote, “that changes in the Police Board of Inquiry process…will go a long way to improving confidence in the process on the part of police officers and the public.
"Similarly, the Panel believes that changes in the discipline code are critical to hold officers accountable when they violate key department policies, including increasing reckoning periods in a number of areas.
"On the other hand, it is important that the code is not too harsh and so the Panel declines to make all of the changes sought by the City, including eliminating the penalty range of reprimand to dismissal on a number of charges.”
Among the changes they approved is the creation of a Police Termination Arbitration Board, with an equal number of members appointed by the union and the city, of which 40% must be from under-represented groups.
They also approved placing civilians on the Board of Inquiry that investigates misconduct and other changes to the discipline code, including a new offense: Fraternizing with members of hate groups.
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The contract also lays out a plan for allowing some department positions to be filled by non-sworn officers.
Mayor Kenney said his biggest disappointment was losing a bid to re-impose a residency requirement for officers. But he said, given the State mandate that police contracts be arbitrated, the city had done well.
“While the award did not include everything we hoped for on this front, we believe it is a fair and positive step in the right direction,” Mayor Kenney said. “In fact, very few other cities have arrived at the reforms included in this year’s decision.”
The cost, however, is steep. Finance director Rob Dubow estimated it will cost $133 million, almost the city’s entire fund balance for the three years the contract covers. That is likely to trigger concern from the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Agency (PICA), the state agency that oversees the city’s finances.
“It’s something that’s expensive, and we got a lot in return for those costs,” Dubow said, “and we will have to redo our five-year plan to show PICA how we’ll afford that.”
Councilwoman Kathy Gilmore Richardson had been a major proponent of police reform, sponsoring a bill that took testimony from the public about changes they wanted in the police contract. She said she’s pleased to see some of that testimony reflected in the award.
"I’m just encouraged that there will be more community participation in this process," she said.