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New Castle County council reviews 3-year FOP Lodge 5 contract; police chief answers overtime and discipline questions
Summary
Council President Monique Williams Johns introduced Resolution R26-1156 to ratify a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police, New Castle County Lodge 5. Chief Jamie Leonard answered council questions about overtime drivers, discipline language and retention.
Council President Monique Williams Johns on July 28 introduced Resolution R26-1156, which would authorize the county executive to sign a ratified collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Fraternal Order of Police, New Castle County Lodge 5 covering a three-year term retroactive to 07/01/2026 through 06/30/2029.
The council asked police leadership to explain how the contract could affect overtime spending, discipline processes and retention. Jamie Leonard, identified on the record as chief of police, told the council that investigative work and specialized units drive most of the county's overtime. "Investigations," he said when asked what drives most overtime, and elaborated that investigative overtime, the criminal investigations unit and the crisis management group (SWAT, EOD and the negotiations team) are the primary contributors.
Chief Leonard agreed to produce five years of overtime figures on the record after a council request. He also said disciplinary authority remains within department policy and that the CBA defines classifications and the grievance and appeal process available to union members. "The only thing that lies within the CBA itself is the approved 'classifications of discipline, to include written warnings, oral warnings, suspensions, demotions, and terminations, as well as defining the grievance procedure, the appeal process," Leonard said.
Leonard described the pay-plan change reflected in the agreement as a corrective measure to a previously "structurally flawed pay plan," saying the negotiated changes restore a 10-step career progression and aim to reduce recruitment and retention pressures. He noted that some increases are timed to appear in the executive's March budget so they do not become an immediate unbudgeted cost.
No final council vote on R26-1156 was recorded in the transcript of the session; sponsors were added during the meeting and council members signaled support and questions would be addressed with documentation requested from the department. The matter remains before the council and will return for further action or vote per usual legislative procedure.
