PAX Centurion - Summer 2017

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • Summer 2017 • Page 43 O n November 30, 2016, when the Supreme Judicial Court refused to hear any further appeals, the cases which started in 2001 at the Civil Service Commission ended with six BPPA members whose hair had been reported as testing “positive for cocaine” ordered reinstated with full back pay and restoration of benefits. The only evidence of drug use presented by the BPD against these officers was that Psychemedics, the company under contract to test hair, said that their hair showed cocaine use. Through 18 days of evidentiary hearings (generating 3491 pages of transcript), 202 exhibits (many of which were scientific articles in professional journals), five expert witnesses, and lengthy briefs (ours was 116 pages), the Commission found that a positive hair test “is not necessarily conclusive of ingestion.” This basic conclusion was upheld by all layers of our state court system. At this point, we are still wrangling with the BPD over the back pay due these officers, which, with interest, will undoubtedly run into millions of dollars. Since the Department appears to have embraced a mindset that it did nothing wrong in ruining six officers’ careers and upending their lives based on a test that is largely not accepted by the scientific community, it has taken a contrary position on almost all issues of back pay and still has not reinstated these officers. This recalcitrance will soon be brought before a Superior Court judge. Meanwhile, interest on about 14 years of back pay for these six officers is continuing to run at 1% per month. Hair testing in the BPD, the more things change, the more they remain the same Legal Notes: Alan H. Shapiro, Esq. Sandulli Grace P.C., Counsel to Members of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association So, why, you may ask, does the Department continue on with the hair testing as if nothing has changed? Perhaps the answer lies in the oft-quoted definition of insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” The BPPA is now representing two more officers whom the Department appears hell- bent on firing for the sole reason that Psychemedics says their hair tested positive for cocaine. This is precisely what the Civil Service Commission said they should not do: use the hair test as a “stand alone,” sole basis for terminating a police officer. The BPPA has stood by and fought for its members who were unjustly fired based on these hair tests. It has spent enormous amounts of money to hire the most prestigious scientists in the country to debunk the myth that hair testing should be accepted with the same force as urine tests, still the only federally approved testing method. Through a pending grievance heading toward arbitration, the BPPA will work to make sure that no officer has to go through the excruciating process of being fired for something he or she didn’t do. The BPD powers that be are very quick to point out errors that are made by police officers who must make split second decisions which their bosses can then pore over for days, weeks, months, and years. But when they are told that their decisions are flat out wrong, they blame the civil service system or the arbitrator or the court. Perhaps it’s time they looked in the mirror. I ’m going to go into something that a lot of us take for granted. As I sit down for one second after working the third double for the week and have to be back in at midnight, the baby starts crying. The food is burning on the stove, the laundry is piling up and the baby is still crying. The wife is getting her nails done. When will she be home? Everything I do to get the baby to stop crying is not working. How am I going to make it through all this?Well three hours go by; she did not tell me she was getting her hair done also. I made it through- thankfully – but I came to realize and appreciate all the work that my wife accomplishes. All this got me to thinking about some of the female police officers on the job. The task of working a shitty, horrible midnight shift because that works for your family and day care is $30,000 a year at the same time trying to be a good wife. It surely isn’t easy, especially with the long hours the job requires at times.You’re expected to work nights and weekends and balance a family with your ever-changing sleep patterns. Throw two to three kids into this mix and sleep is often forgotten about. We as men take the role to be the workhorse and often take for granted what goes on when we are not home. Behind every good man is a strong woman By Matt Carey, Area A-1 Representative I guess we could talk about the “stay-at-home” parent, male or female, both jealously and cynically. Is it financially possible with all the monthly expenses it takes to raise a family? The times have changed where in most households both parents are working. The traditional stay-at-home parent job consists of the following: housekeeper, cook, day care center teacher, facilities manager, computer operator, psychologist, janitor, van driver, laundry machine operator, chief executive officer, bookkeeper, event planner, general maintenance worker, groundskeepers, interior design, logistics analyst, nutritionist, plumber and staff nurse. My wife is a police officer in another town so automatically I think she should understand the long hours we all put in to make things financially comfortable for our families and perform the duties of being a police officer. This often gets lost as most of us are always tired and moody from being tired. Trying to have a date night is always valuable. Just remember guys and girls your significant other is meant to be loved not understood. Try to show your husband or wife your appreciation for all the hard work they accomplish when you’re not around.