Tucson Officials Approve ‘Largest Raise’ in Police Department’s History

The city council in Tucson, Arizona, voted Tuesday and unanimously approved up to $30 million in pay raises for city workers as well as a pay increase for its police department, according to Fox News.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the Tucson Police Officers Association (TPOA) applauded the decision, writing, “This is the largest raise TPD employees have ever seen. This raise leverages TPD to be competitive on a state level”:

“The approval of our raises is the direct result of TPOA being the only recognized bargaining unit. Since November of 2020, members of the TPOA Board have engaged in discussions to make this raise come to fruition,” the post continued.

According to KOLD, the police department will receive an additional $6 million and the fire department will experience a $4 million increase in the next fiscal year.

“Outside police departments come and poach our officers in the City of Tucson and the investments we do in academies and training our officers is lost,” Mayor Regina Romero commented.

However, Tucson Police Protective League Vice President Nate Foster said competitive pay will aid in keeping officers, but money can only do so much.

“Those people that left weren’t leaving for more money,” he commented, adding, “They were leaving for a change in environment and where they felt more supported by the politicians of that jurisdiction and the command staff.”

The city council hopes to begin implementing the raises in June, the KOLD report continued.

In a statement shared online Tuesday, Romero said:

This package, combined with the raising of the minimum wage for city employees to $15/hr, will improve recruitment and retention throughout the organization, ensuring that we are attracting and retaining a talented workforce while improving services and saving taxpayers’ the cost of retraining employees.

The TPOA also thanked Chief Chris Magnus for his efforts regarding the pay increase.