Riga, Feb 20 (LETA) - In February, all 803 employees of the Riga Municipal Police have received the new salary, which increased by 10.2 percent or EUR 165 on average, Riga Vice-Mayor Edvards Ratnieks (NA) told LETA.

In January, the Riga City Council approved the allocation of EUR 2 million in the budget for 2026 to increase the salaries of Riga Municipal Police officers from 8 percent to 17 percent according to their job category, with a higher salary increase for the lowest paid officers.

The smallest increase of 8 percent represents an increase of EUR 123 on the gross basic salary, while the largest increase in monetary terms represents an increase in the gross salary from EUR 224 to EUR 231 per month. The new salary model means that police officers will receive a higher pay increase - on average 16-17 percent, while inspectors, senior duty inspectors and senior inspectors will receive an average increase of 8-10 percent.

"At the moment, we have aligned the pay of municipal police officers with that of the State Police. This has been done with the aim of strengthening security in Riga, and one of the preconditions for this is competitive salaries in the sector to reduce staff turnover and the desire to migrate between services," Ratnieks commented.

Ratnieks also stressed that strengthening security in Riga is one of the municipality's priorities and will continue to work together with the management of the Riga Municipal Police on various initiatives to improve security in the capital. At the beginning of this year, the new Riga Municipal Police app was launched, and the Municipal Police single crisis management and video surveillance center will soon be opened, which will significantly improve operational response and crisis management in the city.