APD officers OK contract offering 5% pay increase

July 08--After three years of negotiations between the city and the Albuquerque Police Officers' Association, police officers on Monday approved a new contract that gives them a 5 percent raise.

Police officers voted a divided 260-194 to ratify the yearlong contract.

APOA President Stephanie Lopez said it was important to see police officers and the city finally reach an agreement, but it was unsettling to see there wasn't broad consensus on the contract among the officers. Of the officers who voted online or on paper, 57 percent were in favor and 43 percent were against.

"It's disappointing to see there is still friction in the ranks," she said.

The city and police union haven't had a contract since 2011 and officer pay has been a sticking point throughout negotiations.

Lopez and other officials referred to the pay increase as a "reinstatement" and not a raise because police officers were dealt a citywide 2.4 percent pay cut in 2010 during the recession and a previously negotiated pay increase wasn't awarded in 2011. In addition, police officer retirement and health insurance payments have increased in recent years.

The pay increase included in the new con- tract will cost the city about $3.8 million.

"I think the proposal was fair and adequate," City Council President Ken Sanchez said of the new contract. "If they had turned this down, it would have been a real step backward for them."

Sanchez said police officers have the most dangerous job in the city and he hopes the pay raise improves morale.

There was a significant change in the officer support behind the contract approved Monday and a proposed contract police voted on in January. Earlier this year, police officers voted 529-39 against a contract that would have given them a 2.5 percent pay increase.

Lopez said officer pay was the biggest difference between the proposed contract from January and the contract approved Monday.

The contract also calls on the city administration to keep the police union informed on proposed policy changes that are negotiated between the city and the Department of Justice. The DOJ announced in April it had found APD had a pattern of violating residents' constitutional rights through its use of force. The city's administration and the DOJ will negotiate police reforms to address those findings.

The new contract also makes police union members donate 4.5 hours of paid vacation time in addition to their dues to fund the union. The city administration throughout negotiations has argued that taxpayers should not fund union activities, which is the goal of using officers' overtime toward union officials' salaries.

Donating overtime to the union was one of the reasons officers rejected the proposed contract in January.

"I am very pleased that our police officers voted to accept this contract that takes their cumulative pay increases since I took office to almost 12 percent," Mayor Richard Berry said in an email, "while ending the practice of taxpayers footing the bill for union business. I appreciate the efforts of the City Council for appropriating the funding and of the APOA and my staff for putting together a contract that makes sense for officers and our community."

The pay increases will take effect at the end of the month, Lopez said.

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