Even as a mayoral candidate, Michelle Wu was aware that the city’s police unions’ collective bargaining agreement is the starting point for any meaningful reform to the police department.
She made some lofty promises during the campaign that are beginning to bear fruit now that she has been in office for a little over a year. These promises are at odds with the wishes of the city’s largest police union, which wants to keep all of its benefits and possibly add a few more.
However, as the song goes, the times they are a-changin’, and policing will have to adapt along with them if it is to continue to play its vital role in ensuring the safety, security, and economic vitality of Boston.
The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the largest police union in the city with 1,600 members, requested arbitration with the state Joint Labor-Management Committee last week, claiming that negotiating with the Wu administration had reached a stalemate.
The motion kicks off a lengthy procedure that has historically benefited the union. The final step is a vote by the Boston City Council, which has always given the award its stamp of approval in the past.
Boston Police Union Needs To Accept New Realities Of Policing
Even as a mayoral candidate, Michelle Wu was aware that the city’s police unions’ collective bargaining agreement is the starting point for any meaningful reform to the police department.
She made some lofty promises during the campaign that are beginning to bear fruit now that she has been in office for a little over a year. These promises are at odds with the wishes of the city’s largest police union, which wants to keep all of its benefits and possibly add a few more.
However, as the song goes, the times they are a-changin’, and policing will have to adapt along with them if it is to continue to play its vital role in ensuring the safety, security, and economic vitality of Boston.
The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the largest police union in the city with 1,600 members, requested arbitration with the state Joint Labor-Management Committee last week, claiming that negotiating with the Wu administration had reached a stalemate.
The motion kicks off a lengthy procedure that has historically benefited the union. The final step is a vote by the Boston City Council, which has always given the award its stamp of approval in the past. However, in this instance, the past does not necessarily portend the future.
Protests in the summer of 2020, prompted by George Floyd, led to the passing of a police reform bill on Beacon Hill that aims to improve police practises and eliminate corrupt officers.
However, domestic issues such as an overtime scandal at the police evidence warehouse and the stigma surrounding the system that allowed Patrick Rose to remain on the force (and temporarily serve as union president) despite credible allegations that he had molested a child in the mid-1990s cast a shadow over future labour negotiations.
For this reason, Wu promised in her campaign to “bring structural improvements that go beyond announcements or goals, and are embedded in the collective bargaining agreements with the city.”
On Tuesday, Wu spoke with the Globe’s editorial board and reaffirmed his earlier vow. There must be changes made before we sign any [police] deal,” she said.
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Boston Police Unions Sue City Officials
Two Boston police unions have filed a lawsuit against city officials, claiming that the ban on “non-lethal equipment” like pepper spray violates officer constitutional rights.
The city council approved an ordinance last year that limits the use of gas and other non-lethal instruments for law enforcement, and on Monday a complaint was filed in Suffolk Superior Court to have that ordinance enjoined.
Mayor Michelle Wu, City Council President Ed Flynn, and Police Superintendent/Acting Police Commissioner Gregory Long are also named in the case against the city of Boston.
In a joint statement, the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation and the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society unions accused the organisations of engaging in the “dangerous practise” of “unlawful meddling with police operations and tactics.”
Police supervision by the defendants “directly influences and constrains any sworn officer responding to a radio call or on assignment,” according to the complaint.
The unions contend that pepper spray, or oleoresin capsicum spray, is issued to all Boston police officers. The unions claim the municipal council is “driving escalation of incidents” by banning officers from using pepper spray.
Boston Police Union Wants More Cops After Some Officers Worked 24-Hour Shifts
The head of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, Larry Calderone, has condemned the department’s hiring practises as “reckless.”
The city’s main police union is protesting the decision to force more than 120 officers to perform extended overtime shifts over the weekend, with the majority of officers required to work at least 16 hours and some cops made to work for 24 hours straight.
On Monday, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association issued a press release criticising the department for the practise, calling it unsafe and a sign of the agency’s “severe understaffing.”
The 400-strong police, paramedic, and EMT union is demanding that the city recruit more officers without delay to reduce the frequency with which officers must work marathon overtime shifts and to better regulate the amount of events that can be held in the city at the same time.
Final Words
Even when running for mayor, Michelle Wu understood that the city’s police unions’ collective bargaining agreement was the starting point for any meaningful reform of the police force.
She made some lofty promises during the campaign that are beginning to bear fruit now that she has been in office for a little over a year. These promises are at odds with the wishes of the city’s largest police union, which wants to keep all of its benefits and possibly add a few more.
