New Contract Gives Police 2% Yearly Raise

The city will spend about $278,000 during the next two years for additional benefits for its police officers, including an annual 2% raise and extra holiday pay, the City Council decided Tuesday.

The agreement was part of a two-year contract with the Tustin Police Officers Assn. that also included increases in educational incentive bonuses and extra pay for special assignments.

The deal ends a series of one-year contracts between the city and its police officers that began in 1993, when a three-year contract expired.

The city was close to signing another three-year contract in late 1994 that called for an annual 3% raise, but negotiations fell through because Tustin officials were uncertain about the city’s financial future after the Orange County bankruptcy.