Des Plaines police officers are in line for steady raises after the City Council quietly signed off on a new four-year labor contract this week. The deal boosts starting pay for entry-level officers, locks in annual increases through 2029 and tweaks how certain specialty assignments are paid. City officials say the agreement covers the department’s rank-and-file patrol officers and is aimed at keeping Des Plaines competitive with neighboring suburbs. The council approved the contract on its consent agenda, with no public discussion.
Contract details
Under the four-year agreement, patrol officers receive a 3.5% raise this year plus a 6% market-adjustment increase, followed by raises of 3% in 2027, 3.5% in 2028 and 3% in 2029. The starting salary for a new officer climbs to $86,265 from $83,347. Specialty pay moves from percentage-based formulas to fixed dollar amounts, and extra pay for field-training officers goes up. Employee contributions to health insurance will rise over the life of the deal, from 10% to 13% in 2028. The contract covers 79 sworn, nonsupervisory patrol officers and was approved by the council as part of its consent agenda, according to the Daily Herald.
Where the record lives
On the city’s contracts page, the agreement appears as MAP241 (2026–2029). City documents show the contract is retroactive to Jan. 1 of the current fiscal year and runs through Dec. 31, 2029. Human resources staff keep the MAP241 file in the city’s contracts library, which payroll and HR teams will use to implement the new pay structure. For the official language and full pay tables, residents can check the union-contracts section cited by the City of Des Plaines.
Why it matters locally
Local salary data put the average Des Plaines police officer at roughly $65,600 a year, so the new starting base pushes entry-level pay well above the city’s typical median and is expected to help with recruitment and retention. Suburban departments across the region have been upping their offers to close hiring gaps, and the market-adjustment piece of this contract is designed to keep Des Plaines in the same ballpark as nearby agencies. The averages are drawn from figures published by Salary.com.
Next steps
Negotiations started in December 2025, and city officials have described the talks as collaborative. Because the contract is retroactive to Jan. 1, human resources and payroll staff will now sort out any back pay owed to affected officers. Those departments will handle implementation details and field questions about when base wages and specialty-pay changes will show up on checks. Residents and employees can review the contract documents on the city’s website and read additional coverage in the Daily Herald for more context.
