Orlando, FL, September 18, 2007 – On Monday, September 17th the University of Central Florida (UCF) Police Department's bargaining unit, represented by the Central Florida Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA), voted to accept their proposed contract with 34 votes for and 7 votes against the contract. There were 41 ballots cast out of 50 eligible voters.

Central Florida PBA President John Park states, "This ratification comes after very difficult times for Florida law enforcement, especially University and state police agencies that rely on the Florida Legislature for their much needed pay enhancements. Due to the potential fallout regarding property tax reform coupled with Florida's economic problems, University and state law enforcement officers only received a taxed out one-time bonus of approximately $680 this year. Fortunately, the UCF leaders and PBA worked out a plan to pay their officers more by means of a 1.5% - 3% increase depending on years of service as well as increases in clothing allowances. Additionally, the UCF officers will now have improvements in scheduling notifications to help them prepare for potential callouts and overtime work for large UCF events. None of these improvements would be possible without the quality leadership of UCF's new police chief Richard Beary who streamlined management to redistribute that money to his rank and file troops."