HOUSTON – The Houston Police Officers’ Union (HPOU) voted Friday afternoon to approve the new contract that will help with hiring new officers, as well as raise salaries. 2 Investigates Mario Diaz was at the HPOU headquarters as the results from the vote were finalized.
Approximately 2,400 Houston police officers voted 97% in favor of the new contract, the closest to a 100% vote in support of a new contract in recent memory.
MORE DETAILS: Find out what else is in this historic police contract
The contract will now go to the City Council for a vote next Wednesday.
On May 2, Houston Mayor John Whitmire first announced the new five-year contract between the union and the City that would offer a significant raise to officers.
Houston Police Chief J. Noe Diaz called the new contract “generational” and says it will allow his department to recruit “home grown talent”.
PREVIOUS: Houston reaches tentative five-year contract agreement with police officers’ union
Right now, starting officers are making $64K a year, but the new contract bumps that pay range to $81K a year. On top of that, the new contract adds 500 more officers to the department.
Diaz says this new contract makes Houston first-year officers the highest paid among large cities in Texas.
2 Investigates spoke with Diaz who said the new contract could increase the amont of officers in the department to 6,200. HPOU President Doug Griffith told us there are currently about 5,200 officers in the department.
SUGGESTED: Sunnyside woman recounts delayed police response amid push for HPD pay raise
And with Houston’s growing population, this could help with public safety.
One woman, KPRC’s Jaewon Jung spoke with, said she called HPD a few years back about a domestic violence situation, and it took several hours for them to arrive.
She said this new contract, with the pay increase and more officers, will lead to quicker response times.
SEE ALSO: Over a handful of officer-involved shootings reported in Houston since the start of May
