Tulsa Police Union Rejects Pay Cuts; 155 Officers Lose Jobs

I reported earlier in the week that the Tulsa Police Department was negotiating with Mayor Dewey Bartlett to save the jobs of 155 officers. Bartlett proposed a pay cut of 5.2% to the police officer’s union, the Fraternal Order of Police as part of a plan to address the city’s budget shortfall. The union voted the proposal down and 155 officers will be laid off beginning on January 29.

Mayor Bartlett said the police officers “have a choice…A plan with zero layoffs-that’s a good offer. We want to preserve all the jobs.”

Ryan Perkins of the Fraternal Order of Police said the union was preparing to vote on a previous plan when Bartlett presented the latest version. “We answered the problem (the shortfall). Then he moved the target away. Every time we get closer to the target, he moves it away.”

Tulsa presently has 808 police officers. The Police Department has a $2.5 million shortfall with an overall city shortfall of about $10 million.