More Officers on the Street in Police Contract Mayor Says Reflects ‘Mutual Trust’

A new three-year contract with Royal Oak’s Police Officers Association means more officers will be patrolling the streets and also gives the city the authority to use civilian employees for some daytime desk and property room shifts.

The city isn’t adding police officers, but replacing some sworn officers with civilians effectively increases coverage, putting an extra officer on the road on any given day. Uniformed officers will still remain on the desk on the midnight shift, The Observer & Eccentric reports.

“This immediately puts more officers on the street without spending more money,” Royal Oak City Commissioner Kyle DuBuc said. “That right there is the biggest win.”

Police Chief Corrigan O’Donohue said the contract change “really helps the department out.”

“It makes us a lot more effective and gets police officers doing what police officers should be doing,” he said.

Officers won’t get raises in the first year of the three-year contract, which begins July 1. But the union and city did negotiate 1.5 percent wage increases the second year and a 2.5 percent increase in the third.

In the last contract, officers took a 2.5 percent wage cut.

Mayor Jim Ellison said the city and police officers have been able to iron out differences that would have sent contract talks to arbitration 20 years ago.

“What we’ve seen develop is a mutual trust and a mutual admiration for the work they do and the police department and union offices involved in negotiations admire what we do and appreciate what we do,” Ellison said.