PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA is boosting starting salaries for its police officers by a whopping 25% in an effort to attract new officers and keep current ones.
After several months of negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109, SEPTA agreed to raise the starting pay from $49,858 to $62,379.
For veteran officers, the rate for pay bumps is also being accelerated. It’ll take only two years for them to hit the hourly rate that previously took 25 years.
SEPTA budgets for 260 officers but has only 210 on the force right now. During negotiations, the transit union has maintained that SEPTA police officers often jump to other systems where they can make more money.
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“We have lost some police officers both due to retirement but then also going to other departments for, in most cases, better pay,” said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch. By raising the starting salary, he said the agency is making “SEPTA more competitive with other police departments in the region.”
Aggravated assaults and robberies on the SEPTA system nearly doubled between 2019 and last year.
And, ridership is about 53% of pre-pandemic levels. Busch said the pay raises demonstrate SEPTA’s commitment to safety as it works to lure riders back.
“What we’re hoping that our customers understand is that this underscores our commitment to safety and security on the system,” he added.
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