CINCINNATI -- The city wants to dismiss its labor complaint against the Fraternal Order of Police, and the union won't file a complaint over body cameras.
The deal is handwritten at the bottom of the final contract between the FOP and city, signed in late August and approved by Cincinnati City Council last week. Under the new contract, officers get a 4-percent raise each year for the next three years.
City Manager Harry Black filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the union before the city and union reached a final agreement; he sent a letter to the state Thursday asking for the complaint to be dismissed.
Sgt. Dan Hils, FOP president, had argued body cameras should be part of negotiations and bring more pay for officers. The city started rolling out body cameras in early August. The plan calls 700 officers to have cameras by the end of the year and the entire force to be equipped by mid-2017.
In the past, Hils said the FOP sees advantages and disadvantages to body cameras.
"Body cameras is just part of that transparency, that openness. Now, while it has value to the community, it does add more difficulty and stress to the officer's job -- being monitored while you're out doing every piece and part of your work -- it's something that most people would not choose to do in their work. It's something that we're going to have to live with and it's something else that needs to be recognized and needs to be recognized when it comes to salary," Hils said previously.
