Steen & Company Founder Wade Steen recently sat down with the hosts of the Blue Grit podcast to discuss how police unions and law enforcement associations can use government financial reports and other tools to help strengthen contract negotiations. Wade explains how to read and use audited financial statements, understand the general fund and identify key ratios before sitting down at the bargaining table.

The Little Rock Police Union contract has been extended until 2027, with guaranteed salary increases that will make members of the Little Rock Police Department the highest-paid municipal police force in the state.

Officers will receive 5 percent raises in 2025, 2026 and 2027 under the contract.

Learn more in this KATV Report.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel and other city leaders have announced a panel of arbitrators has issued an interest arbitration award for the members of FOP Lodge #5.

The new two-year contract includes 3 percent pay increases in each year as well as a one-time bonus payment of $3,000. Officers will also be given one wellness day per fiscal year.

Read more in this CBS Philadelphia report.

Columbus police officers will receive a 15 percent raise over the next three years as part of the new contract approved by Columbus City Council and the FOP Capital City Lodge #9. Other provision in the contract deal with lateral transfer pay and how some positions within specialized units are selected.

Read more in this report from 10TV (WBNS).

Following two months of negotiations, representatives of the Edinburg United Police Officers’ Association and city leaders have finalized a three-year agreement that includes pay increases and other incentives.

Officers will receive an increase in base pay at the start of the contract, along with 3 percent increases each year. The agreement also includes improved bereavement leave compensation, and incentives for achieving special certifications such as master peace officer. Support for the new agreement was nearly unanimous among Edinburg officers.

Read more at myRGV.com.

A new collective bargaining agreement has been reached between Covington and the Fraternal Order of Police. The contract, which awaits the Mayor’s signature, includes a 3 percent pay increase and an additional two days of vacation leave for employees with 28 or more years of service.

Read more at LINK nky.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WTVN)--Reports surfaced on Tuesday that the union representing Columbus Police officers and the city of Columbus have reached a tentative deal on a new contract.

The deal includes a 14% pay raise for officers over the three years of the contract. It also reportedly includes a new option for a single payout of 96 hours of sick time, two more holidays per year, and an increase in longevity pay.

When city officials told Little Rock's police union that if it could find money for employee raises, officials would take a look at the proposal, union leaders took the charge to heart.

Now the union has a 300-plus page report on the finances of the city's Fleet Services Department, in which an out-of-town consultant wrote that there are inefficiencies in the city's vehicle maintenance and the way parts and employees are managed.

It didn't bother Wade Steen that he was the only Republican in the cabinet of Democrat Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald. What's been important, he told a reporter shortly before he left county government and returned to his hometown of Columbus in September, was that he could leave proud of the foundation he set as the county's first chief fiscal officer.