Matt Barrall, the Vice President of the Nebraska Fraternal Order of Police, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the recent success of contract negotiations and a new state-wide reaction and de-escalation training.
The Nebraska FOP has approximately 4,500 active members.
After four years of negotiations and red tape, the Nebraska FOP negotiated a successful first contract for the state’s correctional officers. According to Barrall, when talks first started, correctional officers made approximately $14 per hour and had not seen a pay raise in almost three years. Thanks to the new CBA, correctional officers received roughly a 128 percent raise. They now earn nearly $32 per hour, with guaranteed pay increases in the coming years.
He then explained how 2020 was a horrible year for law enforcement officials, as elected officials and Americans in many cities across the country demanded that police be modernized or defunded. Barrall said he worked with officials in Nebraska to come up with a long-term plan to help police officers do their jobs instead of an alternative plan to defund the police.
As a result of Barrall’s work, a multi-million dollar training program was implemented to improve the reaction and de-escalation abilities of police officers throughout the state. The program requires standardized training for every officer in Nebraska. Most vital to the continued training requirements are mandatory 40 hours of annual reaction and de-escalation training.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more.