PAX Centurion - Summer 2017

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • Summer 2017 • Page 7 Vice President’s Message: Michael F. Leary, BPPA Vice President It’s nice to receive recognition for our good deeds A s police officers, we all know that the overwhelming majority of our good deeds go unnoticed. And that’s ok, because I think that we’d all agree the overwhelming majority of us would prefer it that way. However, it is nice to receive recognition now and again. Therefore, I would like to thank Boston Firefighters Local 718 for giving the BPPA an award at their annual dinner a few weeks back. Local 718 took notice of us along with the Superior Detectives’ and Detectives’Union for taking care of our members, the greater police community, and the community at large with the food truck. Despite what some may think, there is a lot of work involved in getting the truck out there. There is maintenance, cleaning, travel, cooking, shopping, scheduling, weather conditions, early starts and late finishes. I have sensed some resistance toward the truck recently, and I sincerely hope my senses are wrong. The truck goes a long way for morale; ask any officer assigned to a post at a major event. And as evidenced by the award we just received, people outside of our Department are taking notice and saying “job well done.” A day spent running the truck is not the same as having a leisurely backyard barbecue. In fact, as I sit here typing this, I am thinking about countless text messages I have been receiving over the past couple of days regarding the next time it is going out; at a fallen officer’s funeral in NewYork. Rest in Peace Officer Miosotis Familia. Our hearts are broken. Officer Rich Cintolo, Officer Matt Morris, Officer Eric Schmidt, Officer Joe Greco, Officer Joe McSorley, Officer Cliff Singletary, Officer Lenin Ortiz, and Sergeant Norberto Perez. These eight officers were recognized for their great work by being awarded the nation’s highest police award, the TOP COPS Award. This Award, given by the National Organization of Police Organizations since 1994, pays tribute to law enforcement officers across the country for actions that go beyond the call of duty. I traveled toWashington, D.C. to see these officers be honored – they exemplified Boston’s Finest and Boston Strong. I also want to thank and honor the men and women in blue that put on their uniform every day to protect strangers and loved ones. Seeing these officers be honored gave me pause – it put in sharp focus that every one of us can be put in situations where we don’t know whether we’ll be coming home safely to our families. Thank you for your service, and thank you for allowing me the privilege of representing you. In my message in the last PAX, I said we were currently working to fix the matter of the Department requiring healthy officers to be seen by department doctors before being allowed to return to duty following FMLA (Family Medical LeaveAct) leave. For example, officers would take FMLA leave to care for a spouse that just had a baby. That officer, whose health was not in question, would be required to see a department doctor before being cleared to return to work. Depending on when a department doctor would have an appointment available and make a determination for MIS clearance, that officer was burning accrued leave and not allowed to return to work to earn wages and opportunities for details and overtime. The BPPA sent a letter to the Department that there was no legal basis for such a requirement (a copy was passed out at the House of Reps meeting and can be seen in the next column) and requested that the practice cease immediately. I am happy to report that we have been given an oral response that this practice has ceased. I also wanted to touch on language regarding court vacation time. Under the MOA, to receive a court vacation day during your vacation period when that court date falls on what would have been your regularly scheduled day off, the following rules must be followed: (1) officer must receive prior written approval from his/her superior officer, (2) officer must submit a copy of his/her court summons, and (3), officer must contact the DA who is handling the case (in writing) and attempt to reschedule the case. These three documents must be emailed to the officer’s commander of his/her designee. A lot of you have been doing this already, but it’s part of the MOA now, so they must be followed if you want to be granted a court vacation day. Also, you don’t get an additional court vacation day for any court day that occurs on a single vacation day. And you are limited to three of these (court vacation days during your vacation period). However, there is still NO LIMIT to getting a court vacation day for an officer who attends court on a vacation day during his/her vacation period that falls on his/her squads regularly scheduled tour of duty as long as you do your due diligence. Remember to do your buy backs! Especially all of you who are planning to retire or out injured. The “P” day buy back is over, but the vacation and sick time buy backs are coming up. Get them in! For the officers who are going to be or have been out for an extended period of time, our contract states an officer will lose their vacation time back from the first year that they were out injured. BUT, if you buy it back, nothing is lost because you will have been paid for it. Also, don’t forget, we can buy back up to four weeks now. Have a great summer, and like the Commissioner always says, “family comes first.” Make sure you spend time with them. As always, thank you, and stay safe. Thank you BPPA for providing your food truck at the C-11 Bike Rodeo. As always, the truck/food was enjoyed by the kids and parents. – Timothy Connolly, Captain, District C-11