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PHOTO: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, left, and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announce a rise in violent crime, driven by a 12% increase in aggravated assaults, during the first half of this year.
Signaling frustration over issues surrounding pay and discipline, Los Angeles police officers rejected a proposed one-year contract extension reached with Mayor Eric Garcetti and city negotiators.
Officials with the Police Protective League, the union that represents rank-and-file cops, said Saturday that 5,823 members had voted against the contract over the last four days. The union has roughly 9,900 members.
“There is a deep-seated frustration and anger among the officers caused by their low pay, working conditions, a disciplinary system that is viewed as biased and unfair, and their perception that management is unreceptive to their problems,” said union President Tyler Izen.
Union officials spent the past week trying to sell the contract to police officers in a series of closed-door meetings. But it was a tough sell.
The one-year agreement offered a substantial increase in the amount of cash available to pay officers for overtime, but gave no raises to most officers.
Now, city and union officials must decide whether to return to the negotiating table.
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