Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Wednesday that police officers with the Metropolitan Police Department will receive a 13% raise next month. 

The raise will cost the city $200 million over the next four years, city administrator Kevin Donahue said. It is a part of a new collective bargaining agreement with D.C.’s police union.

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The 13% raise stems from cost-of-living adjustments for fiscal years 2024, 2025, and 2026. It begins Oct. 1. It will be given to union and non-union officers ranked lieutenant and higher.

“We’re going to make sure that Washington, D.C., is the best big city to be a police officer, and this is work that we’re committed to doing together,” Bowser said.

Council chairman Phil Mendelson said he believed the city council will pass emergency legislation to increase police officer pay at their Sept. 17 meeting.

“I want to say that the challenge of the number of officers that we have is not unique to the District. We see that with every police department in this region and we see that with the police departments across the country,” Mendelson said.

Bowser said there are currently 3,188 sworn officers in the Metropolitan Police Department, but her goal is to reach 4,000 officers. She said she believed the raise and new labor agreement would aid recruitment efforts. Bowser has long called for the hiring of more police officers.

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“This year, we’ve hired 135 new recruits and welcomed 124 cadets into our pipeline,” Bowser said. “But we need to add hundreds more.”

The mayor additionally said MPD would be furthering their partnership with the University of the District of Columbia to apply police academy training hours of up to 60 hours of college credit.