St. Louis County police officers are getting a big pay bump in 2025.
The county council on Friday approved in rapid-fire order new collective bargaining agreements for the department’s police officers, sergeants and professional staff.
“Public safety is the top priority for St. Louis County,” county executive Sam Page said in a statement. “This is the first time the administration negotiated four police contracts at once. We squeezed as much as we could from a tight budget and it is good to see everyone pleased with the result.”
Currently, new officers make about $55,000 in their first year. The three-year deal boosts that starting pay to $62,000 in 2025. By the end of the three-year contract, a first-year officer will be making $64,000.
The contract also increases the amount that officers would receive for working overnight shifts. Educational bonuses will remain the same.
According to a summary of the deals provided to St. Louis Public Radio, by 2027, a police officer with a bachelor’s degree at the top of the pay matrix “would receive pay in excess of $100,000 before shift differential, double pay holidays, and/or working a single hour of overtime.”
Sergeants will see their base pay jump from about $80,000 to about $89,000 in the first year.
In exchange, sworn officers will have fewer years of automatic increases, or what are known as “steps.” In addition, sergeants will not advance along steps in the first year of the deal.
The contracts will cost the county $10 million in the 2025 budget. Funds come from the Rams settlement.
The agreement for sworn officers also makes major changes to the department’s disciplinary policies. The language makes sure that the county will follow the Police Officers Bill of Rights and sets up a faster process for officers to appeal lower-level discipline such as written reprimands.
The police department said in a statement that the deals would “benefit our dedicated employees, commissioned as well as noncommissioned, and ultimately the entire community.”
A number of factors meant the council had to wait until the last minute to approve the contracts. This was the first time the county and the union had negotiated deals for all four bargaining units at once, and that process took longer than expected.
Council members had planned to take all three steps of the legislative process on Tuesday night but did not have the bills in front of them. That necessitated Friday’s special meeting.
All seven council members must vote yes to move bills through the process faster. But outgoing 2nd District Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway, D-Chesterfield, had to leave by 9:30. Outgoing 6th District Councilman Ernie Trakas, R-St. Louis County, was running late, and 7th District Councilman Mark Harder, R-Ballwin, could not get his camera working. Council rules require lawmakers to be visible to take roll call votes.
Once everyone was present and technology cooperated, the meeting went quickly.
