Philadelphia-area transit cops to get big pay raise amid officer shortage
SEPTA officers see largest pay boost in over 20 years
America's crime crisis leads return of pro-police sentiment
Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police President John McNesby discusses the change in tune as city leaders look to refund the police amid nationwide crime spike. FOX Business' Jeff Flock with more.
A Philadelphia-area transit police department is set to implement the largest pay increase the force has seen in more than two decades in an effort to attract and maintain talent amid an officer shortage.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has reached a deal on a new contract proposal with the Fraternal Order of Transit Police union to offer "the most significant increase in salary in more than 20 years" for SEPTA Transit Police Department officers, according to a letter from the FOTP obtained by FOX 29.
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Under the agreement, both new recruits and officers already on the force will see a pay hike.
A transit police officer waits for the Broad Street Line to stop at Erie station, so he can rouse a homeless person sleeping on the train in Philadelphia, PA, on April 1, 2020. (Photo by Cory Clark/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The starting salary for rookies entering the academy will be raised from $46,536 to $56,507, and post-graduation pay will go from $49,536 to $62,387.
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Officers with four or more years of service on the force will see a pay boost of around 11% under the new labor agreement, and those in the department under four years will reach a new "top rate" of $74,588 after 25 months. The previous top rate was $66,480 after 48 months of service.
SEPTA Transit Police officer wears a face mask in Center City Philadelphia, PA on May 8, 2020. (Photo by Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The union said the goal of the salary increases was to be more competitive with pay "in an effort to boost our dangerously low officer staffing levels" at SEPTA.
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The job of a SEPTA transit officer can be dangerous, too.
Earlier this year, a SEPTA officer was shot by a suspect near the Franklin Arrott Transportation Center in Philadelphia, sustaining injuries that landed him in the hospital in critical but stable condition.