Negotiations With Police Union to Be Extended

The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday agreed to extend contract talks with the local police union, forestalling for at least another two weeks the threat of an impasse.

City negotiators had recommended that the council declare an impasse in bargaining talks with the 610-member Long Beach Police Officers’ Assn., but union officials said they wanted to return to the bargaining table with a new contract offer.

At the heart of the labor dispute are long-standing personnel practices deemed inefficient and costly by city management but favored by the police union. Among them are restrictions on personnel transfers within the department, the policy of staffing night shift patrol cars with two officers, and a staffing schedule that allows officers to work four-day weeks of 10-hour days.