Bridgeport, CT – Today, Mayor Ganim met with Local 1159 President Bradford Seely, Bridgeport’s Chief of Police Roderick Porter, and Police Commission Chair Daniel Roach, to announce the tentative agreement that was made between the City of Bridgeport and AFSCME, Council 4, Police Local 1159. The tentative agreement will assist with the recruitment and retention of police officers within the City of Bridgeport by reducing medical insurance costs and implementing pay scale increases. The City will also benefit from this contract in several ways, including being able to recoup more for the use of outside overtime and the civilianization of certain administrative positions in the department.

“This tentative agreement is very important to retaining and recruiting police officers for the Bridgeport Police Department and I want to thank Chief Porter for his leadership on helping to make this happen,” stated Mayor Ganim. “Bridgeport has a wonderful training academy, and we often see officers move onto other cities and towns after they complete their training. This agreement will be a huge step in making sure we keep officers working for a great city like Bridgeport upon their completion of the academy.”

Chief Porter stated, “This tentative agreement allows us to provide more stability to our officers and everyone in the police department. The reduction of healthcare costs and increases in pay for our officers will certainly improve morale among our members and make Bridgeport more competitive in terms of recruitment and retention.”

More information regarding signing of the contract will be forthcoming.