Burlington’s police union and the mayor signed a three-year contract this week expected to help address longstanding hiring and retention issues and make the city’s police department a more attractive place to work.
“I think we secured some benefits that are incredibly important, both for recruitment and retention,” said Joseph Corrow, president of the Burlington Police Officers’ Association.
The 76-page contract signed Wednesday increases the base salary over a 15-step salary scale that ranges from $88,400 to $114,979. It adds retention bonuses after 5, 10, 15 and 20 years of service and stipends for full time police officers who are on call.
It also increases benefits like life insurance, pensionable overtime, and allows up to eight years of pension buy-in for lateral hires.
These are big wins, Corrow said, because it will allow certified officers from other police departments to transfer more easily to Burlington, allow a portion of their overtime pay to go toward their pensions, and be able to buy back years in the pension system instead of having to start from scratch. For lateral hires, officers would be able to come into the department at the stepped salary depending on their years of experience.
Union members called it a strong contract that will help rebuild morale and staffing in the department, Corrow said.
“I am encouraged by the agreement, as it signals strong support for policing in Burlington and provides the salary and benefits package necessary to retain and recruit the best,” Interim Chief of Police Shawn Burke said in an emailed statement.
The department currently has 61 officers and eight vacancies, he said.
Policing Burlington is “both complex and demanding,” said Burke, who stepped in to fill the post vacated by Jon Murad in March. Murad led the department for five years and recently became the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections.
An internal anonymous survey of rank-and-file officers conducted by the police union last summer showed a department struggling with both recruitment and retention issues, with 75% of officers surveyed calling morale “poor” or “terrible.”
This contract aims to fix some of those issues and positions Burlington as one of the most competitive police departments statewide, Corrow said.
“It makes us stand out at the top,” he said.
The contract comes a week after the City Council passed measures pertaining to City Hall Park amid continued debate about public safety enforcement downtown.
Contract negotiations ended in July and the terms were agreed upon and unanimously approved last month by the Burlington City Council.
The mayor and members of the council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
