Portland leaders have agreed to pay police command staff more money to live within city limits.
The City Council voted Wednesday to encourage command officers to live in the city by giving them a 5 percent pay increase if they do. The raise would include captains, commanders, assistant chiefs and Mayor Ted Wheeler’s choice to be the next police chief, Oakland Deputy Police Chief Danielle Outlaw, if they live in Portland.
The estimated annual cost to the city is an additional $30,000 to $50,000 a year.
“This encourages our command staff to live in the city they serve, which is of course a national best practice,” Wheeler said. “And it is on the list of many people’s top items with regard to police reform in terms of building communication and trust between the people of a community and the police officers who serve that community.”
Police lieutenants already receive a 5 percent premium to live within city limits. Commissioner Chloe Eudaly voted for the increase and said she’d like to see the city consider similar incentives for other public employees to live in Portland rather than a less-expensive suburb.
Outlaw is slated to earn $215,000 a year if she opts not to settle in the city.
Copyright 2017 Oregon Public Broadcasting