BART increases police officer salaries on July 1 to recruit and retain more officers

(SAN FRANCISCO) BART police officers will have a pay raise on July 1 and the salary increase is also intended to help recruit more potential officers to join the BART Police Department.

The BART Board of Directors unanimously approved the new agreement to increase police officer salaries. The agreement also indicates that there will be additional raises to the already scheduled 2% salary increase.

Under the agreement, the top-step police officer hourly rate will increase from $55.12 to $67.38 on July 1. Newly recruited officers and lateral officers will continuously qualify for a $15,000 hiring bonus.

“This represents an important investment in safety and security on BART,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “It’s essential that the BART Police Department is competitive in recruiting officers. We know BART is a great place to work, but we’ve lagged behind some other peer law enforcement agencies in salaries. The new agreement levels the playing field – and we will put every new officer out patrolling the trains when they come on board.”

According to BART, the agreement would put the BART Police Department's pay scale matching with other Bay Area law enforcement agencies. Before the Board’s approval, BART police officer salaries were 19% below the market average for 10 local comparable jurisdictions. The increase will better position BART Police Department to recruit additional officers as well as retain current staff.

The ridership of BART has been down 40% compared to the pre-pandemic days. Some surveys show that crime and homelessness are the major factors to discourage the riders to take BART since the pandemic beginning in 2020.

“BART Police Department is fully committed to improving the customer experience on BART by maximizing our visible presence in the system,” said BART interim Police Chief Kevin Franklin. “Having more officers patrolling trains is already starting to make a difference and it’s something we want to expand as we invite more riders back to BART. This will enhance our tiered approach to safety - unarmed personnel adept at de-escalation in conjunction with traditional sworn officers.”

BART hopes the salary increase and other corresponding recruitment efforts will lead to a greater safety presence on the trains for BART riders. To improve presence on trains, BART will prioritize the deployment of new officers. At least 50% of patrol officers are assigned to ride trains.

Presently BART Police Department has 28 officer vacancies. All newly filled positions will be assigned to patrol trains for greater security for riders.

If the 28 officer vacancies can be filled in the future, BART will add an additional 448 patrol shifts per month and result in a 60% average increase in the number of sworn officers on trains during mornings and a 70% average increase during evenings.

"It will more than double the number of sworn officers on trains during weekends, which takes on added importance as BART launches a new schedule in September that will boost weekend service, so that no rider will wait more than 20 minutes for a scheduled train," BART stated.