Local News in Brief : Hermosa Beach Police Get Raise

Hermosa Beach police officers and sergeants were given 9% raises this week, retroactive to March 1.

The three-year contract, which was unanimously approved by the City Council, also provides that only nonsmokers will be considered for police officer positions.

The 26 officers and five sergeants, who are represented by the Hermosa Beach Police Officers’ Assn., have been working without a contract since March 1. They will receive additional 5% raises next March 1 and 7% raises March 1, 1990. Police officers’ salaries rose to between $2,472 and $2,861 a month with the new contract, up from $2,268 to $2,625 a month. Sergeants now earn between $2,893 to $3,348 a month, up from $2,654 to $3,072 a month.

Based on a survey of 15 Southern California cities, Hermosa Beach police officers earned 12.5% to 15.3% less than police in other cities, and sergeants’ salaries were 15.4% to 18.4% lower, according to a report by Personnel Director Robert A. Blackwood.

Those gaps will be cut during the first year of the new contract to 3.8% to 5.8% below average for officers and 5.9% to 8.6% below for sergeants, Blackwood said. Those figures, however, do not take into account the raises officers in those cities may have negotiated recently, he added.

Life insurance coverage for the officers and sergeants was increased to $40,000 from $24,500.