Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) A bill introduced by Councilmember Vincent Gray to give police officers an incentive to stay on the force past their retirement eligibility is scheduled to be voted on today by the D.C. Council.
The measure would give bonuses to officers over a 5-year period after they reach retirement age, including doubling the officer’s salary in the fifth year. It comes as the Metropolitan Police Department’s force reaches record low numbers – 3,650 officers as of the end of 2015, while the department is authorized for 4,000, Councilmember Jack Evans told WMAL.
“One of the things we have to study is, ‘why do officers leave?” Evans said. “Is it money? To get a better deal in Fairfax? Is it because they’re tired of being a police officer?”
Evans, as a co-introducer of the bill, said more study needs to be done not only into why officers are leaving, but how hiring can be sped up.
“It seems to me, we have a lot of military, ex-military in this country who are looking for jobs. How do we get people through our academy and onto our force to get this force up to the 4,000 level that it needs to be?”
Evans denied an emerging storyline of Gray looking to reposition himself in the spotlight following his mayoral loss in 2014, corruption exoneration, and re-election to the Council last year.
“I would dismiss all of that,” Evans said.
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson sounded more tepid on the bill in his weekly news conference.
“I’m not sure that (Gray) has the nine votes,” Mendelson said. He has been noncommittal in his stance on the bill.
Mendelson does agree, however, that something must be done to stem the tide of retiring officers.
“We don’t necessarily pay police really well in terms of their annual wage, but that’s because they have this pension,” Mendelson said. “Police officers have an incentive to retire, and we’re seeing large numbers of officers retiring.”
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: DC Police Facebook page)
