Local News
Little Rock police officers’ salary increase postponed in order to give more time to the Office of Executive Administration’s negotiations with the mayor
Little Rock, Arkansas – The decision to delay increasing the starting salary for new police officers was made by members of the City Board of Little Rock for the second time in as many weeks.
Little Rock is now at a record-breaking 75 murders for the year so far, and ideas of increasing salaries come at a time when the city is seeing an uptick in violent crime. Given the current level of crime in the city, one member of the Little Rock City Board made a proposal for an increase in the starting salary for Little Rock police officers to $54,000. Namely, the starting wage for police officers in the city is $44,636.80 currently.
However, Mayor Frank Scott opposed the proposal, saying it would interfere with his ongoing discussions with the Office of Executive Administration. These negotiations also seek to increase salaries for officers who are just starting out in the police force.
“We all are already supporting our officers. We are funding our officers,” Mayor Scott said.
The board member postponed the proposal to the 20th of December so that the mayor and the Office of Executive Administration would have more time to sort out their differences and come to an agreement.