Minneapolis pitches $7,000 police payments as effort to boost staffing with new contract

Minneapolis has offered police officers $7,000 payments in an effort to "ensure adequate staffing" ahead of a court deadline to hire nearly 200 officers by this summer, according to documents released late Monday.

The city offered the payments — as well as raises and "market adjustments" — as part of a roughly $9 million deal with the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis. The agreement has support from Mayor Jacob Frey but requires City Council approval.

The council was scheduled to discuss the tentative agreement Monday afternoon — before the new documents were released — but decided instead to take until March 22 to review it. Members said they wanted to better understand the terms of the deal and give residents a chance to share their thoughts on it.

"I want to make sure that there is transparency in how we're discussing this item," said Council Member Jeremiah Ellison, who chairs the Policy and Government Oversight Committee. "I want to make sure that we're not rushing this process."

The 135-page contract with the police union covers a wide range of topics, including salaries, work schedules and discipline procedures. It has drawn increasing scrutiny in recent years, with activists and some officials calling it an obstacle to reform.

Minneapolis police have been working under a contract that expired at the end of 2019. The new agreement would cover 2020-22, and additional negotiation would be needed for 2023-25.

The potential deal comes less than four months before a court deadline for Minneapolis to hire nearly 190 officers — or explain to a judge why it can't. The ruling was issued after eight North Side residents sued the city, saying it didn't have enough officers to comply with the minimum staffing requirements outlined in the charter that serves as the city's constitution. The city appealed and is awaiting a ruling, though it's unclear when one might come.

Minneapolis has about 544 officers, about 300 fewer than before George Floyd's killing in 2020, according to one recent count. Many officers left after filing PTSD claims, while some left for other departments claiming to offer more stability or higher pay.

Some residents welcomed the order to hire more police, saying they wanted additional officers to help deal with a surge in homicides and other violent crimes. Others said the city's money could be better spent on other programs, pointing to research that questions whether more officers guarantee a decrease in crime.

The police union voted in late February to accept the deal and Monday expressed disappointment with the council's decision to postpone its discussion. Union president Sgt. Sherral Schmidt said in a statement that officers "have worked through some of the toughest times in Minneapolis history" and are "severely understaffed."

"Our hope is the City Council will see how this agreement will help the city of Minneapolis become a competitive employer, in a difficult hiring environment," Schmidt said. "This contract would be the beginnings of being able to recruit and retain the best candidates in a limited job pool and recognizing the employees that have remained with the city."

Officers would receive a 1% raise to wages and longevity pay for 2020, a 1.5% raise for 2021 and a 2.5% increase for 2022 — the bulk of which would be paid out retroactively. The proposal includes a 2.5% "market adjustment" effective at the beginning of this year and an additional 1% adjustment beginning Dec. 31.

City spokesman Casper Hill said the impact on individual officers' salaries is still being calculated. The city's latest job postings have cadets starting at $21.46 per hour, while officers coming from other departments could receive from $31.45 to $40.74 per hour.

The deal calls for $7,000 "incentive" payments for new officers who complete training and current officers who remain on duty through the end of the year. It includes $2,500 annual payments for field training officers who remain "in good standing."

The program gained renewed scrutiny after Floyd's killing; former officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering Floyd, was allowed to train younger officers even as he accumulated at least 17 civilian complaints.

Hill said the costs of the tentative agreement were included in the roughly $191 million budget officials approved for the Police Department this year.

The new contract would also require more officers to undergo mental health screening before returning to work after a "critical incident," which is defined as an incident in which an officer is seriously harmed or seriously harms or kills a person.