Oakland Reaches Tentative 5-Yr Agreement w/ Police Officer Assn
Published on August 27, 2026
The City of Oakland and the Oakland Police Officers Association (OPOA) have reached a tentative five-year labor agreement that balances the need to retain experienced police officers with the City’s responsibility to control long-term personnel costs and address significant financial constraints.
“This tentative agreement represents an important step toward containing the City’s long-term compensation costs while still recognizing the difficult and demanding work performed by Oakland police officers,” Interim City Administrator Betsy Lake said. “We are grateful to Oakland’s officers for their dedication to our community and to the OPOA bargaining team for recognizing the very real financial constraints facing the City.”
“This tentative agreement reflects compromise on both sides. Police officers would receive wage increases of 14 percent over the five-year term, and OPOA members would assume a greater share of pension and healthcare costs -- reaching a 10 percent employee health care contribution by January 2030, with additional pension cost-sharing reaching 3 percent by July 2030,” Finance Director Bradley Johnson said. “The City recognized the need to provide competitive compensation, while OPOA recognized that the City cannot continue to absorb rising pension and healthcare costs without greater employee participation.”
The City entered negotiations seeking a contract that would help address projected deficits and pressure on the General Purpose Fund while maintaining the City’s ability to recruit and retain qualified police officers. The bargaining process included consideration of projected deficits, revenue forecasts, General Purpose Fund reserves and other financial pressures facing Oakland.
“This is a great day for Oakland and the Oakland Police Department,” says Oakland Police Chief James Beere. “These new contracts would help ensure our officers’ pay is competitive with law enforcement agencies nationwide. It strengthens our ability to recruit the best and brightest while helping us retain highly experienced and dedicated officers who serve the people of Oakland. Ultimately, this is an investment in the safety and service we provide for our community and officers.”
“I want to thank OPOA and the City’s negotiating team for working in good faith to reach this tentative agreement,” City Council President Kevin Jenkins said. “Retaining experienced officers is essential to maintaining a stable and effective Police Department, and that stability directly strengthens our ability to address public safety across Oakland. These contracts help the City remain competitive while recognizing the service of the officers who serve our community every day. As elected leaders, we also have a responsibility to be responsible fiscal stewards of taxpayers’ dollars. These agreements strike an important balance between supporting officer retention, improving public safety, and protecting the City’s long-term financial stability.”
“Public safety is the City’s top priority, and a contract we can actually afford is how we protect our City,” City Councilmember and Public Safety Committee Chair Charlene Wang said. “Oakland’s police officers work extraordinarily hard under challenging circumstances, and this agreement supports the officers who serve our city every day while giving Oakland five years of predictable costs we can responsibly plan around. It also directly addresses retention, which is both a public safety priority and a matter of basic fiscal responsibility. Keeping experienced officers who know our communities protects that investment, reduces costly turnover, and gives Oakland a more stable and effective police force.”
The proposed contracts come as Oakland continues implementing Council-approved budget investments into public safety, including the anticipated start of the 198th police academy next week.
The tentative agreement is currently being voted on by the members of the OPOA and the parties expect a final result on the voting in 10 days. The final approval of the contracts will be scheduled for a vote by the full City Council. It is anticipated that the item will be scheduled for the September 15 City Council meeting.
The Oakland Police Officers Association has also distributed a news release today with information regarding this tentative agreement.
###