Wheaton police brass, patrol officers to get pay raises

Wheaton's patrol officers will receive a pay increase of 3.5% each year of a new three-year contract between the city and their police union.

The Wheaton City Council also has approved a separate pact with the union representing 10 police sergeants and lieutenants. The terms of both contracts will run until April 30, 2026.

The Metropolitan Alliance of Police Chapter 699 represents 56 Wheaton patrol officers. Negotiating teams for the city and the union were able to come to a tentative agreement after several meetings, Wheaton officials say.

"I want to share my appreciation for our management team who worked hard to put this agreement together as well as the union team working with us to get this agreement accomplished," City Manager Mike Dzugan said.

The bargaining unit ratified the agreement last month. City council members approved the contract without discussion Monday night.

The previous contract expired on April 30. The starting rate of pay in the final year of the last pact was $72,181.

The new contract calls for a starting police officer to receive an annual salary of $80,028 effective May 1, 2025, while the most experienced officer at the top of the contract's salary schedule will earn $119,880.

Officers will proceed to the final step of the schedule only if they "exceed expectations" on their yearly evaluations.

"In an effort to maintain alignment with the top step of the patrol officers in comparable communities by the final year of the contract, police officers will receive a 3.5% increase each year of the contract," the city's human resources director wrote in a memo to the mayor and council.

Police sergeants and lieutenants have their own three-year contract and merit-pay system. They're represented by the Metropolitan Alliance of Police Chapter 450.

Sergeants and lieutenants will receive a 3.75% base salary increase in each of the first two years of the contract and a 3.5% increase in the final year.

Union members who have earned a master's degree will be eligible for an educational incentive of $1,000 per year.

New language in both contracts incorporates the city's current policy on the use of body-worn cameras.