PAX Centurion - Summer 2014

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • Summer 2014 • Page 3 The View From Here: Thomas J. Nee, BPPA President To the men and women of the BPD and BEMS, It was, and is, a great pleasure to raise awareness, on your behalf, of the annual scholarship by securing advertisers to offer their services to you, the members of the BPPA, in 2014 and beyond. It is most important to keep in mind that many of these advertisers are happy to support our cause just because they are appreciative of your efforts, but many, while appreciative, need to drive additional sales as well. Please try to keep this in mind as you shop for groceries, fill prescriptions, buy cars, dine in restaurants or when you might be in need of any services you see advertised within the pages of this, or past and future issues of the Pax. Also, as always, as you go about your daily routines, if you see or hear of a potential candidate for advertising, I can be reached at 617-989-2772 (office) or my cell 617-529- 9288. Thank you in advance and thank you for the opportunity to represent you in this endeavor. Sincerely, Mike Joyce Advertisers in this issue of the Pax Centurion : Brookmeadow Country Club Burke Distributors/Corrib Pub Byrne & Drechsler, LLP, Attorneys at Law City of Boston Credit Union Continental Home Loans, Inc. CVS/pharmacy The Embroidery Clinic Eire Pub Law Offices of Scott Goldberg Law Offices of Donald E. Green Harvard Pilgrim Health Care The Kraft Family and the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation The Lenox Hotel/City Table Carole Lund, R.E. MassMutual Financial Group Neponset Preschool New Verity Corp. B y the time this Pax Centurion is printed, the BPD will have already held the 2014 promotional exams. As you may have heard, the BPPA has objected to the weighting of the exam: 40% written, 40% subjective interview (for lack of a more descriptive and accurate term) and 20% training and experience. It is our belief that the previous, civil-service administered test which was weighted at 80% written score and 20% training/experi- ence was thoroughly appropriate and fair for all promotional candi- dates. We have brought this issue before the State Labor Relations Commission for a number of reasons: last summer, while embroiled in contract negotiations, the City insisted, through their legal counsel, during the interest arbitration hearings that they had no intentions of holding a promotional exam in the immediate future. Well, Shazzam, in October the BPD announces their plans to hold their promotional exam. They failed to bargain or notify the BPPA about these changes, despite promising and testifying at the hearings that they would do so prior to any exam changes. This announcement was under the aus- pices of former police commissioner Ed Davis. Then-commissioner Davis had apparently caved-in to vocal interest groups (and media editorialists) who demanded the “new exam” be structured in a way which would cause favorable outcomes for particular individuals. (Geez, politically connected? No… not in this city…) Commissioner William Evans did not participate in the formula- tion or weighting of this exam, but he is stuck with moving forward with the previous Commissioner’s agenda. A company known as “E.B. Jacobs” was hired by the city and tasked with moving forward with the examination process. As many of us know, the privilege of taking the exam cost $250.00 for the application, not to mention the thousands that many have spent on additional courses, books and re- lated materials. And that’s also in addition to the many hours of study time spent away from doing details or overtime to benefit one’s family. It is with trepidation that our members will await the results of this exam. We will, as a union, continue to represent the interests of ALL of our members, without regards to any external issues or any other extraneous concerns. We wish all of our members the best of luck in the examination process, but we look askance at an exam that is so heavily weighted in favor of a subjective interview as opposed to the certifiable written exam. When the subjective interview factor is in- volved, the opportunities for favoritism and discrimination are greatly magnified. (How do you certify why one candidate did well on an interview while another candidate did poorly?) A written mark is… what it is. Whoever scores best should be promoted, and personalities or other issues should not be factors. Police examinations should be about knowledge of the law, rules, regulations, and ordinances, com- bined with training, experience, and consideration of military service. Have a great summer, and please be safe out there. The mandatory, ordered overtime is sure to hurt many an officer over this shorthanded department. Remember that your family is number one, everything else is somewhere behind… The BPPA objects to the weighting of the 2014 BPD promotional exam