Denver police officers in the middle of their careers already had better compensation than their counterparts in the police departments of comparably sized cities, salary surveys show.
Now those officers and everyone else on the force are slated to get a 14 percent pay raise over the next three years at a cost to the city of $5 million a year.
Denver officers with four years to 19 years of service exceed the median hourly compensation for similarly situated officers in 16 comparably sized cities, according to the city salary analysis.
More than half of Denver’s 1,545 officers fall between those years of service.
The analysis, conducted by city officials, factors in hourly pay as well as benefits, such as insurance and pensions.
Still, the top negotiator for the Hickenlooper administration said the salary survey showed that Denver police with more years of experience and newly hired officers lagged slightly behind officers at the other police departments.
“This was first and foremost about fairness and the data that the comparables show,” said Chris Henderson, the city’s chief operating officer.
City officials have pointed to the wage survey they conducted as justifying the 14 percent pay hike negotiated for the next three years.
Officials also stressed that the last contract in 2004 – giving officers a 5 percent pay hike over three years – put the city at a competitive disadvantage.
“This new contract should allow the police to regain what was lost in the last contract,” Henderson said.
That contract so upset the police union that it took it to an arbiter. The union lost.
The new contract also commits the city to paying 80 percent of any increase in health care premiums – the same as in the last contract.
The new contract, ratified last week by the Police Protective Association, still must be approved by the Denver City Council.
Union officials declined to comment, saying they wanted to await the council vote.
In 2004, the city originally floated no pay raise over three years and suggested allowing the officers to work more off-duty jobs to make up the lost compensation.
Off-duty work hours weren’t raised by the city in this year’s contract negotiations.
Both Henderson and union representatives stressed that the specter of work action during next year’s Democratic National Convention never came up as an issue during the negotiations.
The salary data showed that when benefits and the hourly pay rate were factored in, Denver officers starting out on the force lagged behind the median hourly compensation determined in the survey of 16 comparably sized cities.
But by the fourth year of service, Denver officers pulled ahead of the median pay for their colleagues elsewhere.
In Denver, the compensation package remains ahead of the median pay for other cities until the 19th year of service. At that point, both Denver officers and the median income elsewhere equals $41.97 an hour.
In the 20th year, the compensation for Denver officers falls behind the other cities, with the median income for the surveyed cities equal to $42.43 an hour compared with Denver’s hourly compensation is $42.02.
Marty Flahive, a Hickenlooper administration negotiator, said the survey shows that Denver officers on a strictly wage rate generally make far better than their counterparts elsewhere.
The picture changes once benefit packages are analyzed, he said. Other police departments have more generous pension plans, bringing them more in line with the total compensation of Denver’s officers.
“We’re slightly ahead of the local market when you consider local benefits and pay,” Flahive said.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
$41.97
Hourly compensation Denver police officers in their 19th year of service currently earn, on par with the national median
$42.02
Hourly compensation Denver officers in their 20th year of service currently earn, behind the national median of $42.43
