Breaking News
Police Shortage Hits Critical Mass         Troopers Accused in OT Scam         DROP Lawsuit: Judge Rules Against Cops         The Real Reason They’re After Your Pension? Money!         DROP Program Getting Negative Press         Millennials, White-collar Workers Bringing New Life to Unions         New Study Reveals Police Rarely Use Force         Fake Cop Badges are Everywhere         Best Path for a Trim, Healthy Body         Teachers Get 5% After Strike; Victory for Cops, Too!         When is Police “Use of Force” Justified?         Police Unions & the Video Craze         Scary Day for Police Unions         Night Tours Can Hurt Your Health         Stress Weakens Brain Power; Exercise Can Bring It Back         Police Association President Arrests Suspect—On His Street!         An Assault on Common Sense         NYPD Sergeant Acquitted On All Charges         Fingerprint Scanner to Track On-the-job Time         New Jersey Cops Fighting for Their Pensions         Police and Attorney Say “No Way” to Restrictive Use of Force Policy         Jury Is Out On This Police Review Board         A Police Union With Power!         Stressed-Out Officers: Gone After Eight Years         More Union Members in 2017         Police, Fire Lose Court Fight Over Pensions         Baltimore Discovers It Wants and Needs Its Police         VIDEO: Austin Cops Leaving in Droves         Off-Duty Jobs Scam Uncovered         Deputies Demand $500,000 In Back Pay         Stressed Out Officers, Gone After 8 Years         City Scrambles to Save Pensions         Police Boss Gets Jail Time, Rank and File Up In Arms         CONTRACT REJECTED! Younger Officers Upset With High Healthcare Costs         Police Pensions Protected (For Now)         Let’s Support Firefighters; Cops Will Be Next         Man With a Plan         FBI Will Not Investigate Detective’s Homicide         What About “Warning Shots?” The Debate Continues         Dallas 9-1-1 Back On Track         Hope for Pay Raises in St. Louis         VIDEO: NYC Hero Cop Speaks         New Policies on Deadly Force         ALADS Continues Legal Fight Over “Brady” List         Cops Forgo Raise to Keep 4-3 Schedule         One Cop’s Take On Colin Kaepernick         VIDEO: “We Brought Our Brother Home”         LISTEN: No Sleep? You’d Better Fix That!         VIDEO: What Really Happened         ACLU: Detective’s Right to Free Speech Was Violated         Time To Stop the Finger Pointing         If Things Go Bad, You Need a Plan         Dear Anthem Protesters: Police are Not the Enemy         Real Police Facing Private Takeover         Hard Work, Heartache, and a Lot of Love         VIDEO: Harvey’s Horrific Aftermath         VIDEO: Keeping World Leaders Safe         Bill Bratton On the Future of American Policing         Who Will Pay for New Contract?         VIDEO: Detectives Fight Plan to Cut Pensions         Taking Care of Others, Then Our Own         Public Support For Unions is Growing         Minneapolis Considering Residency Incentives         VIDEO: Cop Battling Cancer is Harvey Hero         VIDEO: Dancing With the Cops?         Cops Speak Out Against Use of “Thin Blue Line” by Hate Groups         What Is the Arnold Foundation Hiding?         Decision May Violate Officers’ Rights         Court Deems Evergreen Clause Constitutional         No Raises for Cops; $140M for Stadium         Philly Cops Win $8M O.T. Settlement         We Condemn Nazis and White Supremacists         Mounties Face Crisis, No Solution in Sight         Push to Oust Louisville PD Chief Intensifying         CSLEA is Newest Member of PubSecAlliance         Ford is Fixing the Problem         “It’s Been An Honor to Work With Chief Marshman”         Automatic Dues Collection Under Attack         Cops Use Video to Go for Pay Raise         Understaffed Leads to Rise In Crime         R.I.P. Deputy Haak         Ruling On Body Cams: Use Must Be Negotiated         Rochester Police Locust Club (NY) Joins PubSecAlliance         Officer Acquitted Of Negligent Homicide         Texas Cops Oppose Anti-Union Bill         Insults Divide, Decency Unites         FOP Prez Threatened, Police Investigate         VIDEO: Sergeant’s Indictment Prompts Outpouring of Support         VIDEO: Sounding the Alarm On a Manpower Crisis         VIDEO: Dramatic Body Cam Footage!         VIDEO: Police Union Advises Action Amid “Breaking Point”         VT First State to OK Compensation for PTSD         Officer Suicides: Agencies Must Do More         Outsiders Clamor for Police Contract Changes         Governor Furloughs Workers, Hits the Beach         Recruit the Best at U.S. Army Reserves         VIDEO: Sergeant Charged With Murder 2         R.I.P. Officer Korchak         More Officers Taking Own Lives         Pride in Honoring Our Own         A Tale of Two Chiefs         New Accountability System Gives Civilians More Power         Police Unions Call for “Rational Voice”         Texas Moves to Save Pensions         City Refuses to Pay Officer’s Legal Bills         Rank and File Question Dubious Hiring         The Mounties Have Never Had to Contend With a Union         Police Week: Anguish, Anger, Empathy         Rookies Sue for OT Pay During Academy Training         FLSA Pay Ruling: Use Cash, Not Benefits         Record Crowd Attends Annual Candlelight Vigil         Everyone Needs Sleep, Especially Cops         Questions Raised About New John Jay President         Hennepin County Sheriff Joins NYPD Shield Program         Big Surprise: Paper Misrepresents Contract Talks         County Budget Leaves Us Underfunded         VIDEO: Omaha Unions Say No to Gov         City Says “No Police Floats” In Parade         One-Minute Man         Is This the Solution to Cop Shootings?         Ingredients for Better LE Outcomes         Why the Police Need Unions         Mounties Demand a Union & Contract         Indebted to Some Very Brave People         We’ve Been Abandoned by Politicos, Command Staff         VIDEO: The Most Hated Man In Pensionland         Underfunded Pensions: a Disaster Waiting to Happen         Another Ambush Attack!         Today, It’s You; Tomorrow, It’s a Security Guard         VIDEO: NJ Police May Get Control of Unfunded Pensions         Thousands of Officers to Get BIG Bonuses         Improving Economy Hurts LE Recruitment         Another Fundraising Scam         Threats to Police Retirement Programs Escalate         Conflict Rises, Billboards Go Up         NJ Unilaterally Changing Police Contract         Pensions Slowly Being Reduced and Replaced         Baltimore Chief: “No More Plainclothes”         When Will All This Stop?         Top Police Union Leader Joins Protest         VIDEO: “Line of Duty” is HERE!         Chicago Cops Get Thanks They Deserve         Mayors Missing as Pension Fund Goes Down         Pension Bill Draws Protest         Deputies Association Hires High-Powered PR Exec         Finally, a Contract for NYPD Officers         Nebraska Corrections Officers Seek Out F.O.P.         Outrage Grows Over Pension Plans in Peril         Sanctuary Cities: Police vs. Mayor         Police Unions Seek to Overhaul Obama’s Reforms         Super Bowl Security         Look Hard at Your Pension Fund         Pension Mediation Talks Cease; Lawsuit Looms         How Much Would You Pay for Policing?         Hazardous Workplace         Officers Leaving in Droves         Technology, Police, and Privacy         Fake Guns Destroy Lives         War Against Unions Gaining Ground         Washington D.C. Police Union in Turmoil         Teamsters Face 20% Cut in Pension Benefits         Body Cam Screw-ups Lead to Mistrial         VIDEO: Body Cam Catches Shootout         Restraining Order for Black Lives Matter Leader         New Chief Has Fight On His Hands         Pension Panic Spreads         Carrots and Sticks         Another Agency May Fold         Community and Police Join in Prayer         VIDEO: We Are There For You!         Feds Seek Repeat of Disastrous Police Hiring Practices         VIDEO: Officer’s Gift of Kindness Keeps on Giving         Is Trump Going After Collective Bargaining Rights?         Police Union Not “App”y         Police Union Fights Back Against Budget Cuts         Police Union Reinstates Body Cam Program         Citizen Wants Officer Fired for FB Post         VIDEO: Use of Force Policy Fiasco         Attacks on Law Enforcement         VIDEO: Where Is the Outrage?         Millions May Lose Overtime Pay         Mayor Violates Officer’s Right to Due Process         VIDEO: Police Union Heals With Song         State Moves to Nix Benefits From Collective Bargaining         City, Officer Cleared in Wrongful Death Case         Trump Puts OT, Benefits On Chopping Block         VIDEO: A World Without Law Enforcement         VIDEO: Shake It Off         HUGE Refund for AZ Public-Safety Pensioners         Eloquent Goodbye         Cheerleader In Chief         The Trouble With Trauma         Shocking News About Local Gov Pension Funds         See You In Court!         One of the Good Guys         Chief Resigns After No-Confidence Vote         Zika Virus Hits Cops         Iowa Officers Ambushed         Policing the Police         For Real Community Policing, Let Officers Do Their Jobs        
By October 31, 2014 Read More →

News Roundup

Submitted by Ron DeLord

From Journal-News.com:

Deputy union contract headed for binding arbitration

In Ohio, a second Butler County sheriff’s union is headed for binding arbitration after the county commissioners rejected a fact finder’s recommendation for a 2.5 percent increase rather than performance pay. It took the commissioners less than five minutes behind closed doors Thursday to reject State Employment Relations Board fact finder Felicia Bernardini’s proposal. Union President Sgt. Jeff Gebhart said the union members have cast ballots but the votes haven’t been tallied yet. His sense is the deputies approved Bernardini’s recommendation.

“We thought that the deputies’ fact finder report is a very fair report,” he said. “We basically have been looking to keep up with inflation, we’re not really asking for raises. We need the same money in the following year that we had the previous year. But if we don’t receive any raises or anything, inflation just keeps eating away at our pay.”

READ MORE.

From WREG.com:

Fire, Police unions concerned about mayor’s pension proposal

The Memphis Firefighters Association and the Memphis Police Association expressed some concerns about Mayor A C Wharton’s recent employee pension proposal. Firefighters’ Association President Thomas Malone said the pension plan prefers employees that work until age 60, which is problematic for firefighters. Malone said many workers have paid into their pensions as promised, but the city hasn’t held up its end of the deal, a situation that has occurred everywhere in the country.

Memphis Police Association President Michael Williams agreed, saying there is a problem with “guys leaving left and right.” The mayor’s proposal is two-fold: part market-based and part 401(a). It also includes a lifetime annuity.

READ MORE.

From thecitywire.com:

Fort Smith budget woes may result in layoffs, protests from fire and police unions

Layoffs appear to be on the table for Fort Smith city employees as the city budget woes continue. According to an email Fort Smith City Administrator Ray Gosack sent to the city’s Board of Directors on Thursday (Oct. 16), “there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight” to the budget problems.

Gosack had said throughout the year that his goal was to provide pay raises to all city employees, but he said with sales tax revenues remaining flat and expected flat revenues through 2015, no money is available.

The biggest cuts to the general fund would have come to the police department, which showed expenses reduced by $667,200 in the hypothetical 2014 budget. The cuts included eliminating all animal control services and the boarding of animals at the Humane Society. Additionally, no calls for animal services will be answered by the police department. The proposal also eliminated two dispatchers, one records clerk and one police officer.

Cpl. Matthew Holloway, president of the Fort Smith chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said there had been discussions among not only police officers and firefighters, but other city staff, of staging protests at the city offices on Garrison Avenue. He said there could be a large number of police officers and firefighters showing up to city Board meetings to voice their displeasure with the budget situation, including the pension fund situation which Gosack did not mention in his emails regarding the 2015 budget.

READ MORE.

From www.therivardreport.com:

For City and Police Union, Numbers Don’t Add Up

It was the San Antonio police union’s turn to present a health care benefits and wage proposal at last week’s collective bargaining session with the City of San Antonio.

It didn’t take long for the two sides to agree, yet again, that neither side buys the other’s numbers. Negotiators on both sides of the table grew snappish as the afternoon meeting drew to a close, agreeing to meet again Monday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m., with little promise of an agreement in sight.

City Council’s 2015 budget for the new fiscal year went into effect on Oct. 1, and holds public safety costs at 66% of the general budget, which exceeds $1 billion for the first time. That meant holding union health care costs down to $10,000 a year per uniform officer, far less than the $14,400 currently being spent on each officer, but well above the $7,300 the City spends on health care for each civilian employee.

Ron DeLord, the lead union negotiator, and Randy McGraw, the union’s benefits consultant, surprised City negotiators with a proposal to move all uniform police officers to a single Consumer Driven Health Plan, an option that is growing in popularity as employers everywhere struggle to contain runaway health care costs and shift more responsibility to employees. McGraw cited a weekend Wall Street Journal story on the trend as he presented the proposal.

DeLord made it that the union does not accept $10,900 as a hard and fast number. City Council, he said, is free to agree to a higher number.

The exchanges grew heated as the meeting drew to a conclusion and DeLord complained of “dishonesty” in Londa’s claim the union proposal would consume 70% of the general budget.

READ MORE.

From www.nj.com:

Newark seeks to slash cops’ pay, hire 65 more officers in 2015

Newark would like to make cuts in city cops’ compensation packages in order to save enough money to hire an additional 65 officers in 2015, officials announced. But the proposed cuts are likely to spark a new fight with the Fraternal Order of Police, which is currently renegotiating its contract with the city. “They have presented us with a proposal that looks to take away thousands dollars from our members,” said FOP president James Stewart Jr.

Under the proposal, the city would get rid of stipends paid to detectives on top of their overtime payments, make weekends part of regularly scheduled workweeks, and eliminate gasoline allowances for detectives, officials said. More specifically, non-patrol detectives would either work a Saturday to Thursday workweek or a Tuesday to Sunday workweek. The detectives would no longer be paid overtime for Saturdays and Sundays.

READ MORE.

Police Union in Miami-Dade launches its own “racy” radio show

The Dade County Police Benevolent Association is launching its own hour-long radio show “Rapid Response” on 880 am radio. It will air twice a month on the first and third Thursdays of the month.

The show was born from the idea that there are many topics and issues facing our community which require more than 15 second soundbyte responses.

“There are stories that aren’t being told and news that isn’t being covered. We want the chance to delve deep into issues and interact with the community,” said PBA President John Rivera.

According to Rivera, like most things the Dade County PBA undertakes, the show will be racy and thought provoking.

READ MORE.

From www.tucson.com:

Tucson may owe pension fund extra $16M next year

Tucson could pay up to $16 million more for its police and fire pensions next fiscal year, according to a newly released state pension board report. The ballooning costs are mostly the result of a recent Arizona Supreme Court decision overturning a 2011 state law intended to keep pension costs down. The decision means Tucson could pay about $62 million for its public-safety pensions next year.

Back in February, the court ordered the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System to reimburse retirees $40 million for past cost-of-living increases and to shift $335 million to a reserve fund to cover future cost-of-living increases. For Tucson, it drops its police and fire pensions under 40 percent funded through the plan’s investments, according to PSPRS documents. As a result, Tucson will likely pay over 60 cents on every dollar of salary for police and fire personnel toward pensions.

READ MORE.

Ron DeLord is recognized as one of the leading police union contract negotiators in the United States, with more than 150 police contracts under his belt. He is the co-author of six published books – two on police power, politics and confrontation,  two on interested-based bargaining, and two on the history of Texas Lawmen. Ron has been on the guest faculty at the Harvard Law School since 1993 for the Harvard Trade Union Program and two Police Union Leadership Programs. He has conducted seminars, workshops and training programs on public sector union leadership, power, organization, media and political action throughout the United States, Canada and Australia.

Posted in: Intel Report

Comments are closed.