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Top Stories: The Debate Over Officer Pay Raises; Highlighting Female Filmmakers

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The top local stories this morning from KERA News: The issue of police raises took center stage at a Dallas city council briefing yesterday.

Police Chief David Brown reiterated his calls for pay raises and more people. DPD has been struggling to retain and recruit officers because it pays less than other North Texas cities.

City Manager A.C. Gonzalez has recommended double-step pay raises up to 10 percent over three years.

However, police and firefighter associations aren’t pleased with that because the raises wouldn’t be distributed evenly. The city manager’s proposal would increase pay only for starting officers and those with fewer years of service. Instead, the police associations want a single-step bump, plus a five percent salary increase for all officers each year for the next three years.

Gonzalez will meet again with the associations to try to reach a pay agreement. The council votes on the final budget next month.

Other stories this morning:

  • U.S. Senator Ted Cruz plans to run for re-election in 2018, but a new poll suggestions at least one fellow Republican could unseat the Texas senator.
  • A new film festival will highlight movies made by female filmmakers this weekend in Dallas. Our Big Screen team previews the Women Texas Film Festival, which will screen at the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff.

You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM. 

Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.