NEW YORK, NY August 21, 2008 —After years of bitter contract talks that have ended in arbitration, the union representing 23,000 police officers and the city have reached a tentative deal, the first negotiated agreement in nearly 15 years.

REPORTER: Pat Lynch is the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.

LYNCH: We've worked together and come up with a contract here that will bring the top pay for a 20-year police officer to $94,000. That’s significant. This will help us to improve our retention problem, it rewards New York city police officers it was creative and historic.

REPORTER: The contract would also raise starting salaries for rookies, from $36,000 to more than $40,000. The previous salary, reached in arbitration, has been blamed for low recruitment rates. The contract is retroactive to 2006, and would raise salaries by 17 percent through July, 2010. It still needs to be approved by union members.