Orange : Police Contract Gives 14% Increase in Pay

A new contract between the city and its police will give the officers a 14% pay increase in the next three years.

The contract was approved Thursday, about a week after off-duty officers picketed City Hall when talks stalled over a retirement plan. Once the full 14% increase is in effect, Orange officers will be paid more than police in most cities in the county. Only Irvine, Newport Beach, Cypress and Huntington Beach will pay more, according to the California League of Cities.

The agreement, approved 99-24 by the officers, also provides an improved retirement plan. An officer will be able to retire at age 50 with a pension of 2% of his salary at retirement times each year he was on the force, said Stan Gabel, the traffic investigator who represented the department’s police association in contract talks.

Officers will receive an 8% raise by January. Their salaries then will increase in increments until July, 1989, when they will receive a 2% raise.

Gabel said the increase was important because the police association had accused Orange of becoming the “police training ground” for the county, with salaries and benefits insufficiently high to keep experienced officers on the force.