Houston police officers are getting a total of 36.5% in salary increases over five years, after months of negotiations between the city of Houston and the Houston Police Officers' Union, according to a May 2 news conference.

The details

The Houston Police Department has more than 5,200 officers in its workforce, but Houston Police Union President Douglas Griffith said officers, especially new cadets, have been leaving HPD as soon as they finish their training to go to cities with higher salaries.

“In the last academy class, we saw four leave as soon as they graduated,” Griffith said. “The following week, they left and went to Fulshear and Rosenberg because they paid more. So now this will prevent that from going on. We don’t need to be the training ground for other agencies.”

HPD officers’ current salary is $62,574, lower than other cities such as Jersey Village and Austin, who have salaries such as $66,000 and $70,644 respectively.

With this new negotiation deal, salaries will see raises totaling 36.5% over the next five years, according to documents shown to Community Impact by the city.

This is how the salary increase will be broken down:

• July 2025: 10% increase
• July 2026: 8% increase
• July 2027: 6% increase
• July 2028: 6% increase
• July 2029: 6.5% increase

“Y’all ought to be excited,” Mayor John Whitmire said. “It’s a national phenomenon across our country. Departments are understaffed and having a hard time recruiting, and that’s what’s going to set us apart. It’s not going to be just sheer numbers, but how do you use those officers that you have.”

Additionally, a first-year officer will now have a base salary of $75,000.

Increases were also made to patrol pay:

• Patrol pay (two years seniority): From $600 to $1,600 annually
• Patrol pay (four years seniority): From $1,900 to $2,400 annually
• Patrol pay (six years seniority): From $2,200 to $3,000 annually

Raises were also made to shifts outside of regular hours, such as overnight or weekend:

• Shifts that start at noon or later: From $1,820 to $2,600 annually
• Weekend pay: From $1,820 to $2,600 annually

What else?

The new contract will cost the city $67 million this year and a total of $832 million in five years. The city is currently facing a $330 million budget shortfall in next fiscal year’s budget. However, Whitmire said the city “won’t have a shortfall," but instead, a balanced budget once the preliminary budget is released May 6.

“We’re going to pay for it through efficiencies [and] reorganization; we had 1,057 retirees yesterday,” Whitmire said. “We're going to save millions of dollars by being more efficient, cutting out waste and duplication. We're collaborating with other levels of government.”