HOUSTON – As Houston leaders continue to balance the city’s budget and allocate funds, Mayor John Whitmire was proud to share details on a five-year contract agreement with the Police Officers’ Union.
At 11 a.m. Friday, Mayor Whitmire was joined by Police Chief J. Noe Diaz and members of the HPOU at City Hall to outline the agreement’s salary updates, benefits, and recruitment efforts.
In the conference, Mayor Whitmire noted HPD officers would receive a 37% pay increase over five years.
“We were having serious issues with recruitment/retention because Fort Worth, Austin — our local partners, the villages, and others— were giving better benefits than HPD,” he explained at the start of the conference. “This is a process that, quite frankly it started before my campaign; the understanding that if we do not improve public safety, nothing else matters.”
During his mayoral campaign, Whitmire called public safety a top priority under his administration.
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However, months into his mayoralship, he faced an unexpected challenge when the department was exposed for suspending more than 200,000 sexual assault and domestic violence cases.
“It had a huge impact on what I was trying to accomplish by increasing the number of recruits,” Whitmire said back in February.
“Our best recruiters are our active officers,” Whitmire reiterated in Friday’s news conference.