Author Archive: PubSecAlliance
PubSecAlliance is a growing online community of union and association leaders from groups representing sworn personnel in law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Canada and around the world. It is not a formal organization. There is no president or board of directors. Our mission is simply to provide a space for you to communicate with your colleagues about your most pressing concerns, while informing you about the issues that matter to you most.
Before Detroit, Stockton, California was the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy. Now, Stockton is working its way back, and city leaders see lessons in its ordeal for other struggling municipalities. The video – Includes some wise words from the Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones who explains when you’re the most understaffed police department […]
In Kansas, the Bonner Springs Police Department battled it out with the city’s mayor recently at a standing-room only city council meeting. Here’s the background- about two years ago, the Bonner Springs City Council considered allowing collective bargaining between the city and the Bonner Springs Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police. That was proposal […]
If you work in the public sector and haven’t been paying attention to what’s happening in Detroit don’t expect any sympathy when the pension killers come for the money you’ve saved for retirement. The following are some observations by mayors, professors and others about what Detroit means for the rest of the country. “It’s a […]
“The ruling on municipal pensions in the Detroit case has caused understandable concern and anger for public workers well beyond the Motor City. Despite the rhetoric, it is too early to tell what will happen to pensions in Detroit or to what extent Detroit represents a sustainable legal or political precedent. What is clear is […]
Union leader blasts move as “grand larceny” One day after Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a new pension bill into law, a top union leader blasted the package as “grand larceny.” Henry L. Bayer, executive director of AFSCME Council 31, said it’s outrageous that the General Assembly has chosen to cut meager benefits for state […]
In Sunday’s New York Times, columnist David Brooks writes a thoughtful article on suicide, one of the worst problems plaguing the law enforcement profession. The Irony of Despair By DAVID BROOKS We’ve made some progress in understanding mental illnesses over the past few decades, and even come up with drugs to help ameliorate their effects. […]
When you learn that some agencies of the United States federal government are still using floppy disks – a relic from the 1980’s – it’s not hard to understand why the HealthCare.gov website was such a disaster. According to a report by Jada Smith, a reporter for The New York Times, The Federal Register, is […]
There was a time in the U.S. where Democratic presidents and conservative Senators and Representatives each gave up something to compromise and make a deal on major legislation that moved the country forward. It’s the same dynamic that’s so important for police unions when they sit down to negotiate their contracts. But sadly the spirit […]
There were so many momentous decisions impacting law enforcement officers and other public sector employees in the last week that our heads were spinning. We will briefly summarize the ones we felt were the most important and give you the link if you want to read more. Illinois Legislature Approves Retiree Benefit Cuts The controversial […]
There’s no one who needs to understand demographics and the changing dynamics of the American family than law enforcement officers. After all they are the ones who enforce the laws on the people who are breaking them and are sent to mediate and ameliorate disputes mostly among family members who have gone off the rails. […]
Do you know about the Duffel Blog website? It’s one of the funniest things we’ve come across. Check out their monthly news roundup. This stuff is out there. Writing mostly under pen names, the tribe of former and current service members behind the satirical Duffel Blog regularly lampoons military leaders, blasts the bureaucracy and mocks […]
“We are professionals doing the most difficult of jobs” Some take the insults quietly, fuming inside. Others get pissed and speak out. And that’s exactly what Jim Christie, president of the Ontario Provincial Police Association did when a local reporter criticized a salary increase for his members despite the fact that they worked without a […]
Think you don’t need a union to protect your pay and benefits? Guess again. Your association leaders have been busy fighting off the people who want to privatize your job and turn you into a minimum wage security guard. Now there’s a new threat to your job – robots – and your union leaders will […]
If you’re a cop the chances you’re burned out are off the charts. There is no profession out there whose employees are more in danger of experiencing burnout than law enforcement officers. Every single risk factor is endured by cops everywhere in spades and it’s a problem we cannot ignore any longer. Today PubSecAlliance […]
Reflections on the Detroit bankruptcy; “Just one way they are attacking us all” Submitted by Mark Diaz, President, Detroit Police Officers Association There are two retirement systems in Detroit. The general retirement system which covers all of the civilian employees and the police and fire retirement system which covers police and fire but not EMS. […]
Submitted by Mark Nichols Editor, American Police Beat Do you know what an Abandonment Zone is? If not, you might want to start paying attention to what’s happening in Detroit. Corruption and mismanagement of every stripe have put Detroit so deep in the hole that they might not make it out. Residents wait an hour […]
If you are walking for exercise, a new study a leisurely stroll does not work. You have to pick up the pace. Exercise guidelines say people should engage in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days of the week. For walkers, a moderately intense pace would probably be about 15 or 16 minutes per mile. […]
One of the services PubSecAlliance can provide to you is coverage and analysis of complicated issues impacting law enforcement unions and associations in English speaking countries around the world. Today we have compiled some news articles we thought were intelligent coverage of the disastrous decision yesterday by a federal judge allowing the City of […]
Submitted by Mark Nichols Editor, American Police Beat Do you know what an Abandonment Zone is? If not, you might want to start paying attention to what’s happening in Detroit. Corruption and mismanagement of every stripe have put Detroit so deep in the hole that they might not make it out. Thousands of public […]
It’s no secret that GPS tracking devices are controversial with patrol officers, deputies and troopers. Boston cops are the latest group to express concern about putting the tracking devices in all the Boston PD cruisers. The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment but several officers who wished to remain […]
Corrections Corporation of America has been charged with “criminally understaffing their jails.” This would not be happening if the prison was run by a government agency and the employees were represented by a union or association. So who needs a union? The employees of CCA do. A for-profit prison company allegedly put an elderly woman […]
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