BEVERLY HILLS—In response to re-organizations within the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD), the city council is debating changes to both the police MOU and the Safety Support Association MOU.
According to a press release from the city of Beverly Hills, an MOU, or Memoranda Of Understanding, is a written agreement between the city council and the city’s employees that determines wages, unions and organization of the departments, among other things. Beverly Hills has several MOUs with different departments. The Beverly Hills City Council will have a formal meeting on Tuesday, December 5 to address MOU changes they first brought up during the November 21 meeting. These include boosts in wages to many police officer roles, as well as the support of new specializations within the police department.
One such specialization is the Crime Impact Team (CIT). The BHPD does not currently have such a team, but it does have a similar Special Tactics Unit (STU). The unit oversees many roles, including special surveillance of crimes and escorting VIPs visiting the area. There are currently three members of the STU, a sergeant and two officers, and they will be incorporated into the new CIT. Under the proposed changes, the CIT would gain four more officers, and each would receive a “special assignment pay” at the level of 8.25 percent above the base salary. All of the STU’s current assignments would be transferred to the new unit and eventually phased out.
The proposal includes the addition a new unit, the Juvenile Service Detail. It would include two detectives and a school liaison officer, all of whom would be focused on juvenile crimes. The school liaison officer would be tasked with looking into both juvenile crimes and crimes against children, and would work closely with teachers as well as the detectives. All three members of the new unit would receive a wage at the level of 8.25 percent above the base salary. The school liaison officers would work on a rotational basis, as would some members of the CIT.
Under the proposal, the lead traffic control officers would be moved from the Beverly Hills Safety Support Association to the BHPD. They would receive a 10 percent assignment increase of base salary. These officers are charged with overseeing traffic, especially at areas near major construction sites or hazards.
The BHPD will have increased control over various types of crimes throughout the city, where officers will receive special training to better handle specific situations. Police officers will receive salary bonuses as well.
