From Volume 8 E-Newsletter, May 2022
On May 4, City Council unanimously approved a new three-year contract with our two Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) unions, one representing our police officers and one representing our police supervisors (sergeants). These contract negotiations had been underway for over a year.
The contract provides for significant compensation increases. For our police officers, the wage and incentive package will be 26.72% over three years. For our police supervisors, it will be 29.67%. (A similar three-year package was approved by Council the City Firefighter and Emergency Rescue bargaining unit about a month ago.)
These increases may seem high to someone reading about this for the first time, but they were long overdue. Since 2008, our public safety personnel had received wage increases averaging less than 2% per year. And about ten years ago, the City instituted pension reform measures that materially reduced pension benefits for our First Responders.
As time has gone by, Naples has found it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain police officers, primarily because of compensation disparities with other nearby localities Our wage and benefits package was simply not competitive with competing localities – Cape Coral, Marco Island, the Collier County Sheriffs Office, and other jurisdictions.
The current period is one in which it is increasingly difficult to recruit police. This is a challenge nationally, as growing numbers of police are choosing to leave the profession and fewer new recruits are coming forward.
In Naples today, for example, we have 10 officer vacancies, which represents almost 20% of our total complement of uniformed officers. Simply put, we are risk if we cannot recruit and retain qualified police officers. And over the last several years in particular, we have seen an exodus of uniformed officers leave our force.
This contract represents an important step forward in improving the competitive position of Naples. But we need to remember that it is only the beginning of that process.
It is certain that other communities will continue to improve their own wage packages and offer other incentives and pension benefit improvements. For the foreseeable future, City Council and city management must continue to closely monitor these issues to ensure that we are a leader, not a follower, in retaining and recruiting First Responders.
Naples is a community that has a low crime rate and a police force that has always been community oriented. But as Collier County continues to grow and change, the public safety issues that already impact other larger urban counties will inevitably press on Naples’ doorstep. We need a fully staffed, well trained police force to meet these challenges.
In my many conversations with residents, I have never heard one person suggest that public safety is anything but a top priority for Naples. What I do frequently hear is that Naples should be the most attractive community in our region for police, fire, and emergency workers to want to work and serve.
We can again move in that direction through the strong foundation provided by this labor agreement. More will be required in the future to retain our competitiveness but this contract is a huge step forward.