7:00am | The Long Beach Police Officers Association will not agree to a request that they forego a scheduled 2% raise, according to the Press-Telegram, meaning that some officers will likely lose their jobs instead as the City continues to search for ways to save money.
City Manager Pat West had asked all City departments to agree to pay cuts or freezes, such as the one that the departments of City Attorney, City Auditor and City Prosecutor agreed to earlier this week.
However, the officers union agreed last year to reduce a scheduled raise over five years that was estimated to save the City tens of millions of dollars over the next few years. LBPOA president Steve James told the Press-Telegram yesterday that he wont ask his members to agree to another raise reduction only one year later.
But the City has to cut one way or another, facing an $18.5 million deficit that must be balanced and presented to the City Council by September 15. That means that the Police Department may have to fire officers. The Press-Telegram reports that 76 positions are likely to be cut, but many of those could be lost naturally to attrition such as retirement or job offers elsewhere.