Columbia’s mayor says it was heartbreaking for her to hear the Columbia Police Officers Association (CPOA) president say his officers don’t feel appreciated and don’t feel valued.
CPOA president Matt Nichols made his comments recently on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri.” Mr. Nichols and the CPOA are not happy because the city council has not allocated any federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars as premium/hazard pay for law enforcement officers and other essential workers who were unable to work from home during the COVID pandemic. Mayor Barbara Buffaloe responds.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear it of any employee within the city especially after we just adopted our fiscal year 24 budget, where we saw not only an across-the-board increase in pay, but also a heavy increase in starting salary for our police officers,” Buffaloe says.
Mayor Buffaloe tells 939 the Eagle that she and her fellow council members appreciate Columbia’s police officers.
“I know when I sit up at the dais (and) my fellow council members, both in the way that we’ve been voting for everything that’s coming across our dais that’s requested by the police department. But also we just really do care. We appreciate having those who respond to sometimes somebody’s worst day,” says Buffaloe.
Mr. Nichols has said that the hazard incentive would have demonstrated that the community recognizes the officers’ ongoing sacrifice.
