Police officers in Fresno to get raises under new one-year union contract. What else changed?
Fresno police officers will receive a 3 percent raise, among other benefits, after city council unanimously approved a new contract with the police union.
“These negotiations are intense, and we’re trying to balance public safety while also balancing the budget,” Councilmember Mike Karbassi said as he thanked city staff for their work to negotiate a new agreement, which council approved Thursday in a 7-0 vote. The previous contract with the Fresno Police Officers Association expired on June 16.
In addition to the raise, the contract includes a provision that allows union leaders to delay their return to their department duties upon completion of their union leadership term. The contract also adds back premium pay for officers on long-term absences — a provision that was removed from the previous 2022-2024 contract as a strategy to reduce the number of officers on long-term absences.
There were no changes to the patrol schedule in the new agreement. The city administration proposed schedule changes that might have reduced overtime and provided more officers for some higher crime shifts. But the FPOA did not accept the proposal, said Sumeet Malhi, the city’s director of personnel services, during council discussion.
Former Police Chief Paco Balderrama resigned July 25 following a city investigation into an inappropriate off-duty relationship with an officer’s wife.
Before news of the investigation came to light, Balderrama said in a June 5 budget presentation to city council that he had plans to overhaul the schedule. The effort was his priority for the upcoming fiscal year. Several sources with knowledge of the negotiations said the proposed changes made Balderrama unpopular with the rank-and-file members of the PFOA.
The current patrol schedule results in an “excess” of up to 50 cops assigned to work on Wednesdays, which is typically a lower crime day (Wednesdays are also used as training days for officers). Balderrama proposed a new hybrid platoon shift that would have distributed these officers across the week and during higher-need times, such as evenings and weekends, when there tends to be more calls for service.
In the interest of completing negotiations in a timely manner, the schedule was not part of this contract, said City Spokesperson Sontaya Rose. She also said that the contract with the police union is for one-year in light of budget considerations; contracts are typically three-year agreements.
Mayor Jerry Dyer said in a statement to The Bee that he is extremely proud of the violent crime decreases the city has experienced over the past three years. “This is a testament to the hard work of our police officers,” he said. “This contract is reflective of our appreciation for their outstanding accomplishments and acknowledgment of the dangers they face daily. ”
Long-term absences down
In 2021, around the time when Balderrama joined the department, there were over 100 officers on long-term absences, or about 1 out of every 7 officers, The Bee previously reported.
Investigating alleged workers compensation “fraud” in the department was one of his first initiatives as chief.
“It was about three and a half years ago, right after I took office, and former Chief Balderrama arrived here at about the same time, he approached me about the long term absence issue, and we had discussions behind closed doors, and were very supportive and collaborative in attacking that issue, along with the council and administration,” said Sgt. Brandon Wiemiller, president of the Fresno Police Officers Association, during the council meeting.
Today, there are 29 officers on long-term absence, which represents a 30% decline from last year, said Deputy Chief Burke Farrah during the council meeting.
City Manager Georgeanne White said that the previous contract with FPOA included new language that discontinued premium pay when an employee was absent for more than 45 days.
“That provision was specifically negotiated in to help address the long-term absence list,” she said.
But what the city and department found was that other factors, not the premium pay restriction language, were helping to reduce the number of long-term absences.
“While that provision was a tool in our toolbox, it was not the tool that was used to reduce the LTA (long-term absence) list,” she said.
White and Farrah said that aggressive attention to workers compensation claims helped reduce the long-term absences.
The police and personnel department helped ensure officers got to their appointments and medical care they needed to get back to work, Farrah said. If they couldn’t come back to work, there was a process to remove them from duty or help facilitate medical retirements.
In response to further questions on the issue from Arias, White said she’s open to bringing back the provision to remove premium pay after 45 days should long-term absences start trending up again.
Police staffing ‘very good’
Arias asked Farrah a series of questions around the patrol staffing levels.
He wanted to know why there is constant discussion that there aren’t enough officers to address petty crimes despite the department’s being at its largest size with 860 sworn officers and 926 budgeted positions.
Farrah said that the department is still “desperately understaffed” when in comes to comparable populations in officers.
It isn’t immediately clear what this comparison entails. However, Fresno has a relatively lower number of cops assigned to patrol compared to other police departments. According to a November 2022 U.S. Department of Justice analysis of local police departments nationwide, about 60%, or 6 in 10 full-time sworn officers, had a primary job responsibility within patrol as of 2020. Fresno’s current dedicated patrol officers comprise about 38% of total sworn officers.
“Lately staffing has been very good,” Farrah said, and the department has been able to meet minimum staffing requirements. A couple times a week, however, the department has to call in officers for backup to meet minimum staffing levels, he said. These officers are paid overtime at time-and-a-half their regular pay.
Minimum staffing requirements for the five policing districts are:
- 7 officers per district on day shift
- 8 officers per district on graveyard shift
- 11 officers on swing shift
“I get a report every morning that shows staffing levels,” White said. “They actually do a pretty good job of keeping it pretty level.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2024 at 4:51 PM.
