PAX Centurion - November / December 2015

Page 12 • PAX CENTURION • November/December 2015 617-989-BPPA (2772) By James W. Carnell, Pax Editor A reduced legal fee is continuously offered to police officers and has been for more than thirty (30) years. Our office has successfully represented countless law enforcement officers in their personal injury claims (on or off duty) and other legal matters. The first Law Offices of Donald E. Green was opened in Boston’s waterfront in 1982 and the second office in Dudley Square/Roxbury in 1988. The Firm also has satellite locations in Braintree, which is convenient for South Shore residents and downtown Boston; both locations are by appointment only. The Law Offices of Donald E. Green is a multi-ethnic. multi-lingual law firm, concentrating in personal injury matters as well as medical malpractice, dental malpractice, wrongful death, worker’s compensation, slip and fall, criminal defense, civil rights, immigration, family/probate, bankruptcy, real estate and sexual harassment claims. Don Green served in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1961 before being honorably discharged. In 1968, he joined the Boston Police Department and retired in 1990 after serving the city for nearly 22 years, the last 15 years as a Sergeant in the Roxbury district. He is married to Annette Hill Green, a native of Dorchester, who is also an attorney and his law partner. “We are proud of our investment in the community and the trust our clients have instilled in us to handle and resolve their legal matters over the past 30 years. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the community for their support and patronage!” We would like to say “thank you” by inviting you to stop by our Roxbury office, Monday through Friday, between 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. to pick up a free Cell Phone Dashboard Pad in an effort to promote your safety (hands-free talking) on our roadways! (Limited to one per person, while supplies last) To learn more about the Firm, call Don or Annette at (617) 442-0050 or via e-mail at dgreen@donaldegreen.com . Feel free to visit our website at www.donaldegreen.com or in person at 2235 Washington Street in Roxbury (Dudley Square). Evening andWeekend Appointments Available • Home and Hospital Appointments Available D on G reen A nnette H ill G reen D on G reen Understaffed, shorthanded, under-equipped patrol force faces Islamic terrorism Should we wait for another San Bernardino before anyone listens? D OESANYBODY, BESIDES THE POLICE UNIONS, GIVEA DAMN? Does anybody out there realize how short-staffed, aging, undermanned and under-equipped the patrol force actually is? In light of the most recent incidents of savage , radical Islamic terrorism in Paris and San Bernardino, perhaps somebody out there in the world of police politics will begin to listen, before it’s too late: The Boston Police Department patrol force, who answer the radio calls every single day, is woefully undermanned, overworked with excessive man- datory overtime, aging at a rapid pace, and does not have some of the most basic tools quickly and readily available to other police departments in order to respond to terrorist assaults. The BPPA has been warning for years that the patrol force is being crushed with mandatory overtime shifts due to short-staffing. The patrol force is aging, with those hired in the 80’s and early 90’s getting ready to retire, and not being replaced by younger officers at a rate sufficient to combat natural attrition. Patrol work is, without question, a “younger man’s job”, and is the most vital, basic service that the department delivers on a daily, hourly basis. But more and more, older officers, in their mid-50’s to 60’s, are assigned to answer the always-dangerous “basic” radio calls as younger officers with fewer than ten-year’s experience are re-assigned to administrative or specialist posi- tions. (Wink-wink, nod-nod, no further comment needed on what we all already know exists….) In virtually every district in the city, the need for overtime op- portunities due to short-staffing are put out over the radio every day of the week, and quickly become mandatory-overtime assignments as there are simply not enough officers available to volunteer. Many