Sacramento police officers respond to an incident in the Oak Park section of Sacramento in March. The union representing the department’s rank-and-file officers said it had made its “last, best and final offer” to the city after months of contract negotiations.
HANNAH RUHOFF
hruhoff@sacbee.com
Sacramento’s police union delivered its “last, best, and final offer” to the city, its leaders said, as contract negotiations continued to drag on. Sacramento police officers, who said they had worked without a contract for more than a year, were prepared to take their case to arbitration.
The Sacramento Police Officers Association said city negotiators had stalled talks and used delay tactics, while salary, staffing and retention issues at the heart of the union’s demands remained unaddressed. The bargaining unit represents rank-and-file officers, as well as sergeants, dispatchers, community service officers and city park rangers.
Labor leaders said the number of sworn officers had fallen from 800 when Sacramento was smaller to 613, with more staffing cuts ahead in the city’s 2026-27 budget, according to the union. The union also said officer salaries had fallen below those of neighboring agencies.
Sacramento’s 2026-27 Police Department budget was more than $253 million. That was $3 million less than the previous budget cycle, but almost twice the department’s budget from a decade ago.
The police union “remains willing to reach a voluntary agreement, but our members will not wait indefinitely while the city continues to delay and refuses to meaningfully address the recruitment, retention, and compensation crisis facing the Sacramento Police Department,” SPOA leaders wrote in a lengthy statement Wednesday. “After months of negotiations and mediation, the time for delay is over.”
Sacramento officers were seeking salaries competitive with those offered by other agencies in the region. They also wanted incentives tied to longevity to keep experienced officers on the job; medical contributions to help offset rising healthcare costs; and workers’ compensation benefits to better help injured officers heal and return to work.
“The city has remained unwilling to meaningfully address the significant economic issues facing Sacramento police officers, the union said in its Wednesday statement. “This is not simply a labor dispute. Sacramento is facing a serious police staffing and retention problem, and the city’s approach to bargaining is making that problem worse.”
The Sacramento City Council and City Manager Maraskeshia Smith met with SPOA labor negotiators Tuesday in closed session. But union officials said Wednesday that if the city turned down their last, best and final offer, they would take their case to a neutral arbitrator.
In a statement, Smith said the city has negotiated in good faith with its officers but did not address the possibility of arbitration.
“The city remains engaged in good-faith negotiations with SPOA and continues to work toward an agreement that meets the needs of all parties,” Smith’s statement read. “As we move through this process, we are balancing the needs of our employees with our responsibility to be good stewards of public resources and our continued commitment to providing essential services to the community.”
The union also said its members had endured extended stretches without successor contracts over more than a decade. SPOA said it had filed an unfair labor practice charge against the city seeking to compel it to negotiate.
“We are prepared to present the facts, defend our proposal, and hold the city accountable for its bargaining position,” the SPOA said. “Our members and the Sacramento community deserve a resolution.”
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The Sacramento Bee
Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.