Police Officers Near Contract Settlement

Police officers who have gone more than three years without raises will soon get relief.

A salary schedule resulting from binding arbitration calls for increases of 3.5 percent in 2003, 3.75 percent in 2004, 4 percent in 2005 and 4.25 percent in 2006. The City Council discussed the award in closed session Tuesday (Oct. 11, 2005) but has not yet voted approval.

Of about 145 to150 Police Benevolent Association members, 110 officers are at the top rung and will receive $72,505 in 2006.

The city just hired six new officers who are now in police academy training. If they stay on next year, they will receive a 53 percent increase in pay.

In the first half of 2000, new hires received $38,364. But in a give-back in the contract that ran through the end of 2002, the entry-level pay was reduced, creating the large gap between the first and second steps.


Other nearby towns have similar gaps. In South Plainfield, probationary officers receive a 44 percent increase with their first promotion. In Westfield, the lowest-paid officer receives $33,277, while the next pay level is $42,777, a 29 percent difference. But in Somerville, base pay is just 14 percent below the next step, more comparable to Plainfield’s old formula.

The steep increase in Plainfield may encourage new hires to stay longer than in the past. Because of the volume of calls in Plainfield, an officer may gain more experience in a short time than in years with a smaller police force. But many leave to work in other municipalities.

After the city hires an officer, he or she must undergo four months of police academy training and the 16 weeks of coaching by a veteran officer,

“To all intents and purposes, new hires are not effective for a year,” PBA President Andre Crawford said.

Despite the low starting pay, Crawford said competition for police work is intense.

“Police jobs are at a premium,“ he said. “Thousands of people are vying for the job.“

The prospect of a likely 25 years of steady employment has caused candidates to form study groups to take the police exam, he said.

The six new officers sworn in this month are the first since the highly controversial layoffs of officers a couple of years ago. Crawford called the laid-off staff “a really good group” who have gone on to work in other towns.

“We basically trained them to send them somewhere else,“ Crawford said.

He said the new officers came through stringent background checks.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen it this extensive,” he said, crediting “watchdogs” within the ranks.

For any more new hires, he said, “We’re going to demand that. We don’t want anybody coming in the door with trouble.”

A pool of 24 applicants yielded a pool of only 11 candidates, but after all the background checks were done, only six were eligible to be hired.

The contract settlement also relieves the city of a headache.

Finance Director Ron West said the city has now settled with all but one of its six bargaining units and he expects all contracts to be complete by the end of the year.

Besides the PBA, city unions include the Plainfield Municipal Employees Association, the Plainfield Municipal Managers Association, the Firemen’s Mutual Benevolent Association, the Fire Officers Association and Public Works Division employees.

--Bernice Paglia

KEYWORDS: police, union contract, city budget

EDITORS' NOTE: The first two pay scale charts were provided by the Plainfield City Clerk's office.