BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 Members of the Bakersfield Police Officers Association demanded the city of Bakersfield to provide fair, competitive pay for its officers who have been working without a contract for over four months.<\/p>\n
The comments were made during the public comments portion of the Wednesday evening Bakersfield City Council meeting.<\/p>\n
Numerous Bakersfield police officers wearing blue shirts attended the meeting to sit in front of the city council as the organization\u2019s representatives spoke publicly.<\/p>\n
Corvette driver arrested after clocked going 147 mph on Panama Ln: CHP <\/a><\/p>\n BPOA President Max Hernandez criticized the expiration of the contract between the city and the police officers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable to me and frankly unacceptable that the city would allow its contract with police officers to expire,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n Hernandez said Bakersfield police officers respond to violent calls quickly despite being out of contract, but the quick response times will worsen as more officers will begin to leave for other departments for better pay.<\/p>\n BPOA Vice President Robert Tyo urged the city to prioritize a contract for the police department, which has been expired for 127 days.<\/p>\n Tyo said Bakersfield\u2019s officers have worked tirelessly for years to make the city safe and brought down response times and crime rates, but the department is still losing officers.<\/p>\n \u201cTalented officers are jumping ship to nearby agencies offering much higher pay and better benefits, we simply aren\u2019t competitive and that gap is widening,\u201d Tyo said.<\/p>\n Tyo also said BPD is no longer competing with large cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco, but losing talent \u201cin our own backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n Josh Deutinger, a sergeant in charge of the BPD Traffic Division and a member of BPOA, said the police department is losing more and more officers to neighboring agencies.<\/p>\n \u201cThese officers aren\u2019t leaving because they\u2019re tired of the job, they\u2019re leaving because they can provide better for their families by working elsewhere,\u201d Deutinger said.<\/p>\n