CHICAGO — Despite pre-election fears that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson would “defund the police,” Chicago police officers would receive raises, retention bonuses and stipends for specialized training under a tentative deal reached with the police union and mediated by the Illinois Labor Board.
Highlights of the agreement, per the union, include:
- 16%-20% raises over four years
- Retention bonus for every officer of $2,500
- Stipends for officers with specialized crisis intervention, medical triage and bicycle unit training
Even police union president John Catanzara, who has criticized the Mayor’s approach to crime, seemed pleased they’ve come to terms.
“I want to thank the Johnson administration for their commitment to getting this deal done,” Catanzara told WGN Investigates.
The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The City Council would also need to approve the agreement, which comes after an earlier deal with the FOP on police reforms.
In addition to four years of labor peace in a city facing continued crime concerns, the Johnson administration will also get one of its priorities: A pilot program for a new approach to investigating and solving murders.
Currently, CPD detectives investigate everything from robberies to murders in shifts and are constantly being assigned new cases. Leads can grow cold when a detective’s days off or shift occur soon after a crime or new cases pile up before old cases are solved.
CPD will test new homicide investigative teams with detectives who only investigate murders and work on-call for one week to respond to new cases and then have the next several weeks to investigate those cases before they’re assigned new ones, according to the union.
Los Angeles has a similar approach to solving murders.
