New contract agreement brings a bump in salaries for Harlingen Police

ValleyCentral.com
by: Jeremiah Marshall
Posted: August 24, 2023 / 06:58 AM CDT

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — This October, officers with the Harlingen Police Department will see an increase in their salary.

City commissioners and police union leaders came together and announced a new contract. Leaders say this was historic because it was the first time the two groups came together in a ceremonial signing.

Administrators with Harlingen Police said it can be a challenge to fill open positions within the department.

However, this new agreement signed by city leaders and the police union will help bring some relief.

“It actually cripples us a little bit when we have a lot of vacancies and then trying to get new people trained is tremendous if they’re not certified it takes a year of training just to get them to where they can be on the streets,” said Chief Michael Kester with the Harlingen Police Department.

The new contract comes with an upgraded pay scale which will increase salaries by an average of 15% over 3 years.

The negotiations also made enhancements to transfers along with helping retention and keeping seasoned officers on the force.

“So we hope when we come back to the table over the next three years for the collective bargaining, we fix that pay scale and we can do an across-the-board increase but this was needed because they knew what their needs were within the department,” said Mayor Norma Sepulveda with the City of Harlingen.

Commissioners say they had to make cuts to the new fiscal budget but made public safety a top priority.

“Without our community, without our officers and the partnership that exists we wouldn’t be doing what we do,” Joe Gonzalez President of the Harlingen Police Officer & Law Enforcement Association.

Officers said they are almost at full staff and this new agreement will help.