Barrington reaches three-year agreement with its police union

Barrington officials signed off this week on a new contract with the village's police officers.

The agreement with Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #177 began Jan. 1 and includes 3% salary hikes for each of the three years of the contract. It was approved by the village board Monday.

Under the new contract, the new officers will start with a $76,620 salary. After six years, an officer could achieve the top pay of $109,977.

Police Chief Dave Dorn said Barrington's recently acquired home-rule status enabled the contract to allow the hiring of "lateral" transfers - officers currently employed by another agency. Bringing in lateral transfers has advantages, he said.

"You can look at a broader applicant pool. You can speed up your testing process as well," Dorn said.

Dorn said the agreement would have been negotiated quicker if wages had been the only focus. But contract talks also involved incorporating 12-hour shifts for patrol officers from a separate memorandum of understanding into the main contract.

The new contract also contains a wellness incentive that allows eligible employees with an excess of sick leave hours to deposit them into a Post Employment Health Plan.

In addition, the contract reduces officers' sick time.

"So it saves money for us to hire back to cover the shift," Dorn said.

Negotiations, which also included Village Manager Scott Anderson, went smoothly, the chief said.

"We have a very good relationship with our union, and they did a great job," Dorn said.