BEAUMONT, Texas — The Beaumont Police Officer's Association and the City of Beaumont are both hoping that a newly signed contract will help attract and retain talented officers in the city.
The new four-year contract took effect on Monday, October 31, 2022, according to a news release from the City of Beaumont.
The contract was negotiated and designed with the goal of attracting and retaining better officers to the city as well as keeping the ones we have, according to the release.
Beaumont Police Chief Jimmy Singletary tells 12News it's been tough to keep qualified officers on the job the last few years.
But, he is hopeful these changes might yield some good results
"Our officers are doing a heck of a job," he said.
Singletary says he's happy about the new contract between the city and the police union, because it's been hard to find good recruits.
"It's very difficult out there right now in the world, because of all the things that are negative that happen to officers over the last two years," he said.
Beaumont officers will receive a 16% pay increase over the next four years, which Officer John Woods says will help fill in those numbers.
"It benefits the city as a whole because you now have experienced officers that are serious about staying in Beaumont opposed to getting training, getting good training and then moving on to somewhere else where they get better pay scales," Woods said.
Officers can now reach their max pay sooner which will help concerning retention.
"Officers that have been with us over the years that ended up leaving for other agencies for a more competitive pay rate. This will help us with retention," Woods said.
The Beaumont Police Department has 10 open positions and are looking to fill the jobs with qualified candidates.
"We are not going to lower our standards. The pay is what will bring us more of an attractive set and really gonna bring us the qualified men and women that we need to hire," Singletary said.
A sign-on bonus of up to $10,000 was added to help attract officers with prior experience.
New officers who sign on for at least three years will be eligible for $2,000 per year of prior experience, up to five years, at the time they are first hired according to City of Beaumont communications director Lauren Monitz.
It can cost the city about $85,000 for equipment, benefits and training, including the police academy, to hire someone who hasn't previously become a certified peace officer according to Monitz.
It previously took a Beaumont officer 20 years to reach the top of the department's pay scale but under the new contract it will take half that with officers hitting the top at 10 years according to the release.
“We are pleased to be able to offer better benefits, pay, equipment, and training as our officers nurture positive relations with the citizens of Beaumont," Beaumont city manager Kenneth Williams was quoted as saying in the release.
Another new feature mentioned in the release that may help attract new officers is "lateral entry hiring" which will allow new officers to transfer their years of service from other departments.
“I spent months analyzing what it would take to attract top talent to Beaumont and get our exceptional officers to stay in Beaumont," BPOA president Robert Campbell was quoted as saying in the news release.
The new contract also increases the stipend for body armor and adds two additional holidays.
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