Montclair Police settle new contracts
BY KELLY NICHOLAIDES
for Montclair Local
The Montclair Mayor and Council approved a new police contract on Sept. 10, covering the period from 2019 through 2024. With the new contract all police will receive annual raises, where as in the previous contract only some higher ranking officers saw increases.
Police hired prior to July 1, 2013 and only those in their sixth step in rank will receive raises of 2.5 percent in 2019 to 3.75 percent in 2024. Salaries range from $102,146 to $119,275 over the course of six years for that rank.
All law enforcement officers hired after July 1, 2013 will receive 1 percent annual raises for each year. For those in steps/ranks one through nine in the salary grid, the compensation ranges from $53,713 to $102,146 in 2019. Numbers indicate police officers receive a rise in salary when moving up the ranks at 6.64 to step two, 5.29 to step three, 7.76 to step four, 7.2 to step five, 10.5 to step six, 9.46 to step seven, 11.99 to step eight, and 8.28 to step nine percent in 2019.
Under the last 2015-2018 PBA Local 53 contract, for law enforcement officers hired before July 1, 2013, the same starting salary of $53,713 applied. Beginning in 2014, there were no raises for four years, except for the sixth step rank, which included $600 annual raises (2 percent). The highest salary was $99,655 at the time. The officers did receive an increase in salary as they rose through the ranks of 15.5, 10.45, 9.46, and 12.6 percent respectively.
In the last contract, for law enforcement officers hired after July 1, 2013, there were no raises except for the eighth step, which included 2 percent annual raises. Again, salaries between steps one through eight rose from $53,713 to $93.207 in 2015. Those salaries indicate a rise in salaries between rank were 5.59, 5.29, 7.76, 7.2, 10.45, 9.46, and 12.6 percent respectively.
The table of organization in the Montclair Police Department includes 109 law enforcement officers, including 65 patrol officers, 14 detectives, 13 sergeants, 11 lieutenants, three captains, the deputy chief, and chief. The chief and deputy chief get their own contracts.
Montclair also employs 21 non-sworn staffers, comprised of seven civilian/clerical employees and 14 dispatchers. Non-sworn staffers are not included in the union contracts.
The township’s annual budget for police was $15,585,355 in 2018 and $15,811,662 in 2019.
According to a NJ Advance Media analysis of public employee pension data, the median salary for municipal police officers in New Jersey was $105,106 in 2016, the last data available. Montclair police median salary then was $98,688 with 14 years of service. The crime rate was 11.5 per 10,000 population, in a town of 38,192 and with a median income of $99,105.