PAX Centurion - November / December 2013

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • November/December 2013 • Page 5 Vice President’s Message: Ronald McGillivray, BPPA Vice President Council approves funding By not succumbing to the media frenzy to have the vote prior to the general election… the council members had a chance to fully vet the award. At the end of the day there wasn’t a rational argument against the funding given the overall picture. The arbitrator saved the City from a serious clock-cleaning and visualizes a means in his award for moving forward culminating in uniformity… though it might take a few successive cycles. See Vice President on page 29 A special thanks to the members of the Boston City Council and President Steve Murphy for their approval to the fund- ing of the Patrolmen’s arbitration award. By not succumbing to the media frenzy to have the vote prior to the general election… the council members had a chance to fully vet the award. At the end of the day there wasn’t a rational argument against the funding given the overall picture. The arbitrator saved the City from a serious clock- cleaning and visualizes a means in his award for moving forward culminating in uniformity… though it might take a few successive cycles. Good luck to the Detectives and Superiors. Thanks to Mary Ryan and members of the Payroll Department who have been work- ing tirelessly to generate our final numbers. Use of Compensatory Time U se of Comp time has always been an issue with officers having earned time from many years’ prior but never able to access the use of that time if it generated overtime. A good number of officers are in excess of the 160 hour maximum number that an officer will be able to keep on the books starting 1-1-14. The Department will reconcile these numbers in buying down each offi- cer’s bank and process individual adjustment payments post the New Year on a quarterly basis for any overage. In 1-1-15 the adjusted num- ber goes down to 80 hours. If an officer is in excess of the max number they will not be able to work an “officer initiated out of turn” tour. Requests for the use of either contractual or FLSA compensatory time will require a written request 96 hours in advance. There are reasoned restrictions regarding use during public safety exceptions. There are different formulas for districts or units with more than 25 officers and less than 25 officers… weekdays and weekends and the same holds true for the 14 sum- mer vacation week period and the 2 weeks surrounding Christmas . Use of FLSA comp time trumps contractual overtime requests. This issue gives our members much greater flexibility and predictability in plan- ning months in advance. Clerks will no doubt get requests for prime time early on. The “use” segment will be subject to review twice a year to tighten up any shortcomings. Classes 49, 50, 51 and 52 Back in Play A n educational incentive for classes 49-10, 50-11, 51-12, and 52-13 who had been shut out by Gov. Patrick’s elimination of the Quinn is back in play. The City’s current 50% with an additional 25% (of a fixed number) for a total of 75% will be avail- able to the current officers incrementally while the certification pro- cess for officers with degrees continues. Going forward new enrollees are capped at a Bachelor’s Degree. The flat amount for fiscal year 2016 should reflect $2,100 for anAssociates, $4,100 for a Bachelors and for those preceding that are eligible, $5,100 for a Masters/JD. For Post-Quinn Hires who have submit- ted the completed, proper documentation to Human Resources the applicable kick-in date is July of 2013 so there should be some retroactive money once approved. The New Education Incentive Program will parallel that of the Board of Higher Education’s requiring Criminal Justice degrees or earned credits working towards a Baccalaureate degree with a Letter of Matricula- tion acknowledging that the officer is enrolled in a criminal justice program. Sealed, officially stamped transcripts should be delivered to Human Resources. Department Appeals Dave Williams Decision O n June 20 th , 2013 an arbitrator overturned both the discharge of DaveWilliams in January of 2012 and the placement of DaveWilliams onAdministrative Leave in February of 2011 and awarded Officer Williams all monies for any economic harm he suffered. The Department has appealed the arbitrator’s deci- sion after donating $1.4 million dollars to Michael O’Brien. The most puzzling piece of the case was why the Department decided to give Michael O’Brien $1.4 million dollars given the consistent representation of intoxication at the scene and obvious embellishment regarding his alleged injuries for personal gain. The Department did nothing for a year after the complaint was filed as can be supported by the number of pages transcribed after the initial interview, consistent with frivolous claims. There was nothing there other than DaveWilliams be- ing assigned the typical downtown drunk call out of the box at midnight but atypically finding the need to call for an “officer in trouble” at the scene. Any- one else and this incident is a non-starter. O’Brien files an internal complaint on March 19, 2009 followed by a letter on May 12, 2009 byAttorney Friedman questioning the investigation. In September of 2009 a Federal Court complaint is filed against the Department/City focusing on the investigation along with another IAD complaint reiterating O’Brien’s March claim. In January of 2010Attorney Friedman sends another letter questioning IAD, prompting anApril, 2010 interview of Williams for an incident that occurred 13 months earlier that generated 14 pages of substance. In January, 2011 David is deposed byAttorney Friedman generating 120 pages. In February, 2011 a new Lt. Detective is assigned to this case, the case is described to him as a high priority, but mishandled case. Marching orders aside, after 4 days on the case David is sum- marily placed on administrative leave and teed up for termination. The time lines tell the story. The 4 th floor recognizes the investigative shortcomings, so a