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ST. LOUIS — City police officers are poised to receive some of their largest pay raises in recent memory.

The deal, approved by police union members this week, calls for bumps later this year worth thousands of dollars per officer, up and down the seniority chart.

City officials said it should at least temporarily narrow pay gaps between St. Louis and St. Louis County police and cut into the growing number of officers leaving the force in recent years.

“This agreement will help the city be more competitive,” Mayor Tishaura O. Jones’ office said in a statement Friday.

The Ethical Society of Police, which represents city officers, lauded the deal. “This is a good start to help with retention but there is a lot more that needs to be done,” the group said in a statement.

There’s one caveat: The agreement appears to tie those raises to the police department remaining under city control.

Jones has strongly opposed state lawmakers’ efforts to reimpose state control in recent years, a move that could stymie her efforts to increase civilian oversight and pursue other progressive reforms. The main police union, however, has been just as adamant in its support for state control. But close observers said rank-and-file officers’ overwhelming approval of the pending deal indicated the extra money could bridge the difference.

The administration also said it would continue expanding “alternatives to policing,” including programs focused on diversion, engaging youths and sending social workers to calls when appropriate.

News of the deal prompted praise from police allies at the Board of Aldermen and the region’s main business lobby.

“I’m glad and encouraged to hear that there’s a meaningful pay increase,” said Alderman Tom Oldenburg, of St. Louis Hills. “I think it needs to be more, but it’s a meaningful first step.”

“Strengthening public safety in St. Louis,” Greater St. Louis Inc. CEO Jason Hall said in a statement, “is the most critical policy issue we must address to ensure the entire metro’s economic competitiveness.”

The pending deal would be the first between the city and its police unions since June 2020, when old contracts lapsed without successors.

It follows years of dismal statistics showing the police department, like many across the country, struggling to hire and retain officers. More commissioned employees left the department than came aboard in seven of the 10 years between 2011-2021, and the departures were getting worse: 58 more left than were added in 2020; 79 more in 2021.

As of last fall, the deficit was up to 83, and the total number of commissioned employees had fallen 15% to 1,049 since the start of 2013.

Officials and advocates had long speculated on various reasons for the drop beyond inadequate wages, including an increased national focus on police misconduct, calls to cut law enforcement budgets, and rising stress connected to high homicide rates and the pandemic.

But the pay issue came into sharp focus last summer when St. Louis County officials voted to increase pay for its officers, and the local union chief there said city cops would likely be the biggest target.

In late August, Comptroller Darlene Green presented a public safety plan to the mayor and aldermanic president that included calls for wages “competitive” with other police departments in the region.

Aldermen approved a resolution calling for similar action in October.

The deal ratified by the police union on Thursday, which still must be finalized by city and union officials, would increase pay by 8% for officers with 10 years of experience or less, by 10% for those with 11-20 years, and by 12% for those with 21 years or more.

A police officer with 15 years on the force, for instance, would see their salary increase by nearly $7,000.

Sergeants’ salaries would increase by similar percentage rates.

The exact cost to the city was not immediately clear Friday. City Budget Director Paul Payne said he could not comment on the matter. And the St. Louis Police Officers Association did not respond to multiple calls.

But the union told KSDK (Channel 5) on Friday that it would be at least $16 million.

The city will also need to increase salaries for firefighters to meet pay parity requirements under the city charter.