PAX Centurion - Fall 2016

Page 12 • PAX CENTURION • Fall 2016 617-989-BPPA (2772) some of the heat off of the patrol force. How about the possibility of running the academy on a first half for one year to achieve this goal, it can be a pilot program. Something needs to be figured out before next spring prior to the forced-ordering cycles beginning again. This cycle is getting longer and longer each year and the ordering sooner and sooner. I appreciate all the hard work that the civilian employees do each and every day of the week. Our department would not run as efficiently as it does without them. But they are not the answer to filling the holes when it concerns minimal staffing of patrol personnel in our neighborhoods. This will be money well-spent; it will raise morale in the patrol force because officers will know they can go home at the end of their tour of duty instead of being ordered for four or eight straight tours of extra duty or even the dreaded triple shift. All this ordering has a strain on officer’s well-being. Sleep and relaxation are paramount to a healthy lifestyle, our job is stressful enough without the added uncertainty of when am I going home see my family or when can I eat a decent meal. Now just a few bullet points to keep things fresh in your minds. Remember when you are called to schools for the hostile 3 rd grader or the unruly 4 th grader school officials are supposed to help you in your efforts to get things under control. Do not let the school administrators bully you or demand that you do things “their way”; cover yourself- follow the rules and regulations of the police department. If you are going to write a report, write a detailed report. Remember you work for the Police Commissioner who has established his set of guide lines, rules and orders. I would welcome the advice of the school administrators but you do not work for them. Intense scrutiny and constant second-guessing is running rampant throughout the country; an added few minutes of writing a detailed report may be worth it. I would like to add this goes for all the calls you respond to that need a report, be detailed. Another bullet-point: Massport: remember who aided us and who did not, who lied to us and who hid from us. Why the legislature cannot figure out that this is not a power move to capture more details and that this is purely a public safety and officer’s safety issue is mind-boggling to me. Something unfortunately will eventually happen in that neighborhood that is a part of the city and the citizens are going to be denied public safety. Why is there only one fire department in the City of Boston and only one EMS in the City of Boston who have jurisdiction in all of the four corners of it. The Boston Police Department is not allowed to patrol a neighborhood of the city due to the failure of the Massachusetts Legislature to address the situation. They are not listening to common sense, reason, or the leadership of our associations. In closing I would like to say thank you for all of your hard work on a daily basis. As most of you know I am a Sergeant Detective assigned to the Sexual Assault Unit. Over the past few years I have responded to many calls citywide and I would just like to thank everyone who has assisted me and my colleagues so far. Sometimes we get so wrapped up we forget to say thank you for a job well done or showing a victim or witness a little added compassion. Thank you. Remember watch each other’s backs and back one another up at calls. The name of the game is to go home safe at the end of the shift. From Front Line on page 10 PoliceOfficers on the front lines of socialwork?… Police honored for dangerous Line-of-Duty work A Boston police officer shot in the face by a suspect last year and the colleagues said to have saved his life by rushing to his aid, returning fire, and killing the gunman received the state's highest award for policing on Thursday. Officer John Moynihan, who is still recovering from his injuries, Trooper William Cameron and the Boston Police Department's Detective Brian Ball and Officer Brian Cameron were all awarded the Trooper George L. Hanna Medal of Honor in an annual ceremony that recognizes police for acts of bravery. This year’s ceremony honored 22 police officers – 11 from Boston, four from Bourne, two each from Tewksbury andWebster, one from Chelsea and two state troopers. “Let's not kid ourselves, very little about police work in this day and age out in the field is ever routine, because the mundane can turn into mayhem at a moment's notice,” Gov. Charlie Baker said before presenting the awards. Bourne officer Jared MacDonald also received the Medal of Honor, the highest of three tiers of awards. On Feb. 5, 2015, MacDonald was among a team of officers who responded to a car fire and shooting at an apartment complex, discovering a series of improvised explosive devices after they arrived. After rifle fire broke out, MacDonald was shot once in the back, and two fellow officers – Detective Sgt. John Stowe Jr. and State Trooper Nathan Monteiro – carried him to an ambulance through waist-deep snow. Stowe, Monteiro and the two Bourne officers who apprehended the suspect, officer Joshua Parsons and Sgt. Wallace Perry, received the Medal of Valor, the second-highest award. Chelsea officer Joseph Capistran, Webster officers Robert Ela and TimothyWhiting, and Tewksbury detectives Edward Jackman and Michael McLaughlin were also presented with the Medal of Valor. In Tewksbury andWebster, the officers fatally shot armed men. Jackman and McLaughlin were honored for their response to a stabbing outside the Salter School, an adult vocational school. Ela andWhiting were recognized for their response to a domestic disturbance in which a man shot at them outside his girlfriend's house. Eight other Boston officers were honored. Officers James Conley, Janet Lewis and Dennis Medina were awarded the Medal of Valor for their roles in the March 2015 shooting in which Moynihan was injured and suspect AngeloWest was killed. Also receiving the Medal of Valor were Detective Todd Hartgrove, for his standoff with an armed man threatening two women on a playground; and officers Reivilo Degrave and Gregory Eunis for their response to a Dorchester shooting. Officers Kevin Plunkett and JamesWalsh received meritorious recognition for their arrest of an armed man during a traffic stop, in which the officers fell into the street during a struggle and Plunkett was injured. (Courtesy of the State House News Service.)