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Hampton plans to address staffing shortages for first responders, in part, by offering them the largest pay raises in the city.
City Manager Mary Bunting’s recommended budget includes 7% raises for sworn public safety officers and 911 operators because they’re the most difficult for the city to fill and retain. Bunting attributed the challenges to a tight labor market, increased crime and “a negative national environment around policing.”
“We have always stood strong in supporting our officers,” Bunting said at last week’s informal City Council work session. “While other communities were defunding their police, we were defending ours…
