City of Wichita negotiators and the Fraternal Order of Police are asking the Wichita City Council to approve nearly $10 million in unplanned bonuses, raises and overtime pay increases in exchange for implementing one of several recommendations by the police consulting firm Jensen Hughes.
The City Council last month delayed a vote on a no-strings-attached $5,000 retention bonus to all commissioned officers, with a majority of the council siding with Mayor Brandon Whipple. The mayor said he would not vote for the bonuses unless they were presented alongside policy changes recommended by Jensen Hughes that aim to improve police culture.
The new proposal goes much farther than the original proposal to increase pay for Wichita police officers while addressing one Jensen Hughes recommendation.
The new amendment to the FOP contract includes the $5,000 bonuses, which would cost the city at least $3.4 million. The bonuses would go to eligible employees by Friday, Dec. 8, on top of a $1,000 retention bonus already scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023. Employees do not have to stay with the department beyond this week to receive the bonuses.
Under the FOP contract approved in 2021, police officers were scheduled to receive a 1.5% raise in 2024. Instead, the new proposal would give them 13.27% raises effective Dec. 23. That would raise wages for police recruits by about $3 an hour, to more than $25 an hour. Some sergeants would receive raises of nearly $5 an hour, bringing their...
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