Wichita City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a one-time bonus of $5,000 for the city’s police officers along with some changes to provisions in the current contract with the Fraternal Order of Police.
The Council approved an agreement to provide the bonus for certified members of the FOP bargaining unit as of December 8th. The agreement also makes changes to the 2024 contract in the process of conducting internal investigations. The changes also will provide a salary adjustment of 13.27 percent for police officers in six classifications, along with addition of premium overtime pay of 2.5 times the rate of pay or compensatory time for emergency callouts and for extra duty shifts.
Police Chief Joe Sullivan told the Council that the bonus and contract changes will help recruitment and retention efforts and make Wichita officers among the best paid in Kansas. He believes this will lead to an increase in officers wanting to transfer from other departments and an increase in new applicants.
Council members said they want the recommendations from the Chicago firm of Jensen Hughes to be included in ongoing negotiations with the FOP. The firm released over 50 recommendations earlier this year. Chief Sullivan said 19 recommendations have been implemented, 22 are in progress, and the rest are to be negotiated with the FOP.
FOP president David Inkelaar said the bonus will play a significant role in retaining officers, and he said the FOP looks forward to negotiating contracts for 2025, 2026 and 2027 and addressing the remaining recommendations from Jensen Hughes will be very important to the FOP.
