A contract between the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Officers Federation now heads to the Minneapolis City Council after union members voted to approve a historic raise this week.
The tentative deal provides a collective 21.7 percent pay raise over three years. That would make them among the highest paid forces in Minnesota.
"Obviously now, more and more than ever, we need to have a good contract with compensation that is sufficient to recognize the challenges and the difficulty of the unique difficulty of this job. Not just in this state, in this region, but in the country in general," Police Chief Brian O'Hara said, speaking with WCCO's Adam and Jordana.
The deal was approved by more than 80 percent of the rank and file who voted.
The increase would provide an historic pay raise for officers in the city with backpay and scheduled raises.
"They need to see that they have a fair contract, and that we are willing to pay people adequately for the difficulty, the unique difficulties, that they will face doing this job," says O'Hara.
The full city council could approve the deal as soon as next Thursday but that is not a given. A previous measure was voted down by that same council in November. It's unclear if this has the needed support.
Councilmember LaTrisha Vetaw (Ward 4- North Minneapolis) says that was mainly due to the contract and bonuses it would have given officers, and she sasy that this new contract focuses more on overall salary increases. Vetaw is the former Chair of the Council's Public Health and Safety Committee.
"It increases their salary over three years and I think it's time we do," Vetaw told Tom Hauser on the WCCO Morning News. So, when I looked into this matter, our officers were number ten, I believe, on the list of paid for officers and Minneapolis has to be number one. Minneapolis has to be the top paid police department in the state of Minnesota."
However, Vetaw says she's not confident the deal will get support from the rest of the City Council.
"I really hope the people of Minneapolis engage with their council members and tell them that this is important to them," Vetaw adds. "You know, we had lots of conversations about the bonuses and that's why it was rejected. And now they've done what we've asked them to do and come back with the package that increases pay."
All of this comes with the backdrop of the killing of Officer Jamal Mitchell during an ambush in south Minneapolis just last week. O'Hara hopes the type of person Mitchell was, and what he stood for, galvanizes support behind Minneapolis officers.
"It's who he was as a man as a role model to his children, to members of the community, to his neighbors, that speak for exactly who he was. If we all cannot come together and recognize that and condemn what has happened to this man that, that we're in a sad situation in this society," says O'Hara.