CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Public Safety Committee voted to move forward with the administration's proposal to significantly raise pay for the city's police officers during its meeting Wednesday morning.
Chief Finance Officer Ahmed Abonamah said the salary increase will make Cleveland one of the highest-paying big cities in Ohio. However, pay will still lag behind wealthy suburban departments.
"At least, regionally, we are paying our police officers salaries that make this division of police a competitive place to work," Abonamah said.
The pay raise is part of the city's initiative to recruit and retain police officers.
News 5 Investigators have reported on the city's staffing crisis for close to two years as part of our series "Dangerously Understaffed."
READ MORE: Dangerously Understaffed
During the meeting, police said there are 1191 officers on Cleveland's police force.
The number is 307 officers short of the 1498 officers budgeted for the current fiscal year.
Prior to this fiscal year, the city budgeted for 1640 officers.
Another part of the city's plans remains in limbo.
The two major police unions are mulling over a new proposal regarding how officers are disciplined for low-level violations.
The federal monitor overseeing Cleveland police raised concerns about the city's plan to reduce discipline during a federal court hearing last month.
Details regarding the new proposal were unavailable on Wednesday.
