PAX Centurion - May / June 2015

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • June/July 2015 • Page 15 BPPA to celebrate 50 th anniversary on September 11 th at Venezia’s, Dorchester… From 50 th Anniversary on page 7 Virtually the entire department was fired after the strike, and bitter- ness remained for decades as the patrol force tried to improve their conditions of employment, without success, and oftentimes the worst enemies were within our own ranks. My own grandfather, Martin J. “Babyface” Nevins, (partner “Tin-Can” Kelly) District 6, W. Broadway walking beat, 1926-1965) considered the upstart BPPA “a bunch of communists who didn’t have enough appreciation for their bosses.” If there’s a Pax Centurion in heaven, I’m sure he’s turning over in his grave. The reason the BPD has such frequent, regular needs for new officers is largely because of the strike of 1919. Huge numbers of of- ficers were needed to replenish the ranks at the same regular intervals (1920’s-1950’s, 1950’s-1980’s, 1980’s-current…etc.) and then retired at the same time. That very condition presents itself today, when the officers who were hired after the 1980 layoffs under then-Mayor KevinWhite are now getting ready to retire and not enough new officers are being hired to replace them. The more things change, the more they remain the same. The BPPA was begun in 1965, under the leadership of a very few brave officers. Only a few are left today, and we will be indeed be honored to have them in our presence at the Sept. 11 th banquet (an auspicious and somber date for all of us across this great country, we know, it just happens to coincide with our 50 th anniversary.) Those of- ficers were subjected to withering and humiliating treatment from the political powers who existed at the time. For example, some former BPPA Presidents and representatives were made to stand traffic posts in driving rain outside headquarters at 3:00AM, for no purpose what- soever; only to make the point from the administration that “we will break you.” The BPPA was finally incorporated in 1968, and began the long, torturous road to improving the wages, hours and conditions of employment of Boston Police Patrol Men andWomen. Many of our members have no recollection of what the job was like then, even when I began in 1982 (1979-cadet) as a young pup in District 2. (I used to look at the “old-timers” back then as “burn-outs” (as we were told in theAcademy, stay away from them…); today… I recall them now as soothsayers and prophets. Strangely, I recall nothing of what the “police experts” and academy instructors, who seldom if ever worked the streets, said back then (I wonder why…?). There was no such thing as seniority, there was no such thing as fixed shifts. There were no personal days. A request for a “day-off” was presented as an open drawer in the clerk’s office, without a word said, and if the proper envelope with green filling material did not quickly appear (“wink-wink, nod-nod”) then the drawer was quickly closed and the “day-off request” was denied. (Funny how clerks back then never used a sick day, but street cops did? Geez, I wonder why…) If you pissed off the Sergeant, Lieutenant or Captain (I digress,…you could not even begin to think of approaching a Lieutenant or Cap- tain back then…today…one year patrolmen walk into the Captain’s office to discuss their personal problems… If I ever thought of doing that, Bobby Hayden would have put his foot up my ass, and right- fully so…)Your day-shift could be changed into a night-shift without a moment’s notice, because the boss didn’t like you, sending your family’s schedule into the dump. Most of today’s officers simply have no recognition of what the job was then, of the patrol officers who fought hard and lonely battles for the patrol force against all odds. Many a union official suffered from illness, stress, divorce and other ailments from merely being involved in union activities. Today, because of the BPPA, despite all of the terrible things going on around us, the job has improved greatly from where we were not too many years ago. Complain all you want; we – the BPPA – are the envy of the nation’s police forces for our wages, hours and working conditions.Yes, there will continue to be political battles and internal strife, ad nauseum and par for the course. But as the front cover of the Pax Centurion says in the famous poem “In Flanders Fields” : To you, the torch, we hold it high, if ye break faith with us, then we shall not rest, in Flanders Fields.” The torch is being passed to a new generation of officers over the next several years. Do not break faith with us. Join us on Sept. 11 th at Venezia’s in Dorchester, and learn a little about your history. It’s your job now…. From the Boston Globe, May 11, 2015: “Brawl in Revere draws huge police turnout” A bout a dozen people were ar- rested on Revere Beach Sunday evening after a large disturbance broke out, snarling traffic and drawing a massive police response, officials said. Dozens of police cruisers — includ- ing those of State Police, Transit police, and the communities of Revere, Boston, Lynn, andWinthrop — swarmed Revere Beach near the bandstand around 6:15 p.m. State Police Lieutenant Dan Richard described the responding officers as being from “pretty much all of Eastern Massachusetts and some of Central Mas- sachusetts.” By Kiera Blessing, Boston Globe A fight broke out between several individuals near the bandstand on the beach for reasons that are unclear. Between 100 and 200 people were present at the scene, having gone to the beach on an unusually warm day, prompting Revere police to call for backup, Richard said. Those involved in the fight were “pushing and shoving and throwing bottles,” Richard said. Though he was unsure what kind of bottles were thrown, he said they were probably plastic soda bottles. No injuries were reported. Richard See Brawl on page 36