Less than two years after getting their largest raise in three decades, officers with the City of St. Louis are poised for another pay increase.
Mayor Tishaura Jones joined Police Chief Robert Tracy and St. Louis Police Officers Association business manager Joe Steiger on Tuesday to announce a deal for a 7% raise. That will bring the starting salary for a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer to $56,920, up from $53,196. Officers will also reach their maximum pay faster.
“Their work and their bravery is essential to building a safer St. Louis, and I’m proud that we could come together to come to this agreement,” Jones said. “With this new pay raise in place, we will continue to work to recruit and retain officers to the force.”
The deal still requires the approval of the Board of Aldermen, the Civil Service Commission and the city’s fiscal oversight board. A spokesman for Jones said her office is “working diligently” to secure the votes.
“While this is a step in the right direction, there's still much work to be done to close the gap between our officers and the officers from St. Louis County and the surrounding municipalities,” Steiger said. St. Louis County recently approved a contract that sets starting pay for its officers at $64,000 by 2027.
The department will cut long-vacant positions to fund the raises. That means on paper, the SLMPD would have 1,100 officers when fully staffed, down from 1,224 at the start of the fiscal year last July.
But with fewer than 900 officers, the city is nowhere close to meeting even the new authorized strength. Tracy said the cuts will not compromise public safety.
“Let me make this clear,” he said. “The safety of our community and our police officers is and always will be my No. 1 priority. I believe in this strategic move. Everyone here today agrees that we need to hire more police officers today.”
The 2023 deal helped the SLMPD reduce the number of officers leaving to go to other departments, Tracy said. And while pay is always an important consideration, he said large departments like St. Louis' offer more specialized opportunities than a smaller one that might pay more.
The raises do not affect language that says the terms of the 2023 deal remain in place only if the department is under local control. Gov. Mike Kehoe has made restarting state oversight a key priority, and committees in both the state House and Senate are set to hear legislation to accomplish that goal on Wednesday.
Jones said she hopes the deal “signals to our friends in Jefferson City that we are willing to do the hard work and roll up our sleeves and work together to make sure that the men and women of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are taken care of.”
Due to pay parity, firefighters will also receive the same 7% raise. The mayor's office did not immediately have details on how the city would cover those costs.
The city and union will be back at the table later this month to negotiate a new contract. Steiger, the union official, said economic issues will again be at the forefront.
The city is in the process of putting together its budget for the next fiscal year. Jones said she is working with the budget director to find ongoing funding for Tuesday’s raise, as well as other increases the city might negotiate.
