Omaha City Council Public Hearing Over Police Contract
BY VIVIAN CANIGLIA
The Omaha City Council held a public hearing Tuesday, November 10th, for residents to voice their perspectives on a new police contract. The proposed ordinance would create a five-year-long agreement between the City of Omaha and the Omaha Police Officers Association. The council won’t vote on the ordinance until November 24th.
OPD Chief Todd Schmaderer defended the contract.
But local advocacy groups say it allows for a lack of accountability for officers, and awards unwarranted raises in salaries over a 5 year timeframe. Additionally, collective bargaining to create the contract was mostly conducted between police union members and city officials.
Image credit: Peyton Zyla
The proposed contract would last for five years and include items such as an average annual raise of 2.9 percent for officers until 2025. The Omaha police budget was cited by 24/7 Wall St. in a study that evaluated budgeting allocations in the 50 most populated U.S. cities. Omaha ranked 19th and spent around $160 million in 2018 on the police budget alone.
proponent Maurice Jones,
“This will help efforts to reduce crime and will help to meet the needs of the rapid growth that we are experiencing as a city- it will bring greater accountability, and lastly they (OPD) deserve it”
Image credit: Peyton Zyla
Mike Mcdonald from the Omaha Federation of Labor spoke in favor of the contract,
“ I think the Omaha Police Department is a great police department, they're not perfect, because they're run by people. We’re people, we’re not perfect, but the idea to continue to improve to be better- that's what makes the Omaha Police Department great”
Sara Johnson testifying against the contract,
“It is not ready for approval, I could go into each of those areas into greater detail but as you sometimes like to remind us, you're not the ones negotiating the contract, you're just the ones voting it up or down. Think of this like the recycling contract that you recently voted down but unlike waste disposal human lives are on the line.
Image credit: Peyton Zyla
In August, despite oppositional arguments to divert funding towards mental health services, jobs programs, affordable housing and local education, a $1.96 million increase to the budget was approved. Included with raises for officers and pension allocation for the police and fire pension fund, the contract would allow for Juneteenth to become a new paid holiday for officers.
Alongside monetary concerns, the budget allows for arbitration, a process that can make it easier to reinstate fired officers, and with results that tend to favor officers even if they are not fully reinstated. Arbitration is an alliterative to traditional trials, using an arbitrator who is usually a lawyer with a focus on labor law to review the dispute. The arbitrator typically has the final word when they issue a decision.
In the case of Omaha’s police contract, it allows officers to appeal disciplinary proceedings and termination through arbitration.
The new reprimand review board would be created, in addition to the current citizen review board. It would consist of a three party committee including: a police union representative, a representative selected by the mayor, and a third person chosen by the appointees. The reprimand review board would have power to review disciplinary issues and appeals and decisions made by the board would be final.
Apollo, explained worries of the reprimand board, saying,
“The reprimand committee is designed to review police complaints which I agree with, however the people who are appointed to the committee, I do not – the members are from the mayor's office and the police union and the third is chosen by them. I believe that represents a conflict of interest because those people would have an interest of the police and would make decisions accordingly – the people on the committee should be independently selected and members of the public.”
The introduction of this board is concerning to some as decisions made by the committee would be binding and there is no consideration of civilian input in the reviewing process. For a citizen to file a complaint, the contract would require that the complaint be notarized and then sent to the City of Omaha Human Rights and Relations Department or the Citizen Complaint Review Board.
SOURCES:
KETV information about contract
https://www.ketv.com/article/mayor-omaha-police-officers-association-to-announce-terms-of-contract-agreement/34437661#
FORBES article about police spending
https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2017/08/07/how-much-do-u-s-cities-spend-every-year-on-policing-infographic/?sh=6295e03e7b7d
Freedom Thrive article about police spending
USA today article with omaha ranking
American Bar article defining arbitration
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/dispute_resolution/resources/DisputeResolutionProcesses/arbitration/
WOWT article about police budget contract during summer
https://www.wowt.com/2020/08/19/renewed-calls-to-defund-police-after-city-council-approves-1-raise/
Omaha Abolition Group pamphlet explaining the contract
http://omahaabolitionresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/OPOA-Police-Contract-Pamphlet.pdf