Fresh Intel: The Weekly Roundup
Weekly News Roundup submitted by Ron DeLord
News and commentary impacting police, deputies, corrections, fire, emergency services and public employees throughout the United States. You can access the full article by clicking on the link. Articles are archived on my web page for those searching for information on a particular topic. The posting of an article does NOT reflect my opinion.
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City of San Antonio to Resume Contract Talks With Police Union
After the city trumpeted this morning that a deal to hold more negotiations had been struck, the San Antonio Express-News reports that’s no longer the case.
Additional negotiations were contingent upon the city dropping its appeal, which it will not do.
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Police Should be Able to Accept Constructive Criticism
Did last month’s mistrial of an officer charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore man who died of a severed spine while in police custody, reveal a paradox that limits the potential of achieving serious police reform through the legal process?
An article published last week in The Atlantic, titled “Why Police Need Constructive Criticism,” points out that the prosecution’s focus was on the department’s own policies, while the defense stressed that the dangers faced by police on a daily basis cause officers to regularly (and they argued, reasonably) throw out the rulebook as a matter of survival.
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OP-ED: The True Cost of Policing—It’s Not as Simple as You Think
Over the past several years, municipalities, provinces and states across North America have grown increasingly concerned about rising policing costs, at the same time they have faced little to no increase in local tax revenues. Frankly, in many cases it’s gone from a “do more with less” model to a “do everything with nothing” reality.
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New Missouri Legislation Seeks More Data on Police Bias
Since 2000, Missouri has required police agencies to submit annual reports that attempt to weigh racial bias in traffic stops. Dutifully, news media report the compiled results every year. Routinely, it is found that black drivers are more likely to be pulled over, yet less likely to be found with contraband.
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Nebraska Supreme Court Ruling Cements Omaha Police Union Victory in Contract Dispute
The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld a decision that kept the Omaha police union’s contract in effect after its end date, cementing a union victory. In affirming the lower court’s decision, the court described part of the city’s case as “absurd” and a lack of written documentation as “inexplicable.”
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Ruling Could Reverse San Diego Pension Reform
SAN DIEGO — The state Public Employment Relations Board ordered the city of San Diego to offer retroactive pensions to about 2,000 city employees who were hired after voters approved a pension reform measure backed by Mayor Jerry Sanders in 2012. Proposition B, passed by an overwhelming margin three years ago, shifted new non-police employees from the debt-ridden pension system to a 401(k)- style plan. The ballot measure was a major part of efforts by city leaders to restructure municipal finances.
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NYC, Correction Officers Union Reach Tentative Labor Deal
NEW YORK — New York City and the union that represents its correction officers have reached a tentative labor deal. Mayor Bill de Blaiso’s administration announced the agreement Thursday with the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association. Officials said the contract would follow the pattern established by the city’s other uniformed unions.
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San Bernardino Eyes Cuts of Police Retirees’ Pensions
San Bernardino’s plan to exit bankruptcy, possibly next year, cuts the pensions of 23 retired police officers who receive an unusual supplement to their regular CalPERS pension. The supplement paid through a private-sector firm, the Public Agency Retirement System, boosts pensions to the same amount now common among police and firefighters, a standard set by the Highway Patrol in a CalPERS-sponsored bill, SB 400 in 1999.
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Report: Wash. Troopers Aren’t Just Underpaid, They’re Unhappy
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington State Patrol troopers aren’t just leaving because they’re underpaid and nearing retirement age, according to a new report. They’re also unhappy with the agency’s management — and many say they are looking to leave in the near future.
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Florida’s Coming War on Collective Bargaining for State Employees
When Miami state Rep. Carlos Trujillo was interviewed on Spanish-language radio station Actualidad 1020 he boldly proclaimed that Republicans will ask voters in 2018 to eliminate collective bargaining for state employees from the Florida Constitution. “It is going to be a nuclear war between the government, the unions, the Republicans and the Democrats,” Trujillo said on the air.
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Police Association Fires Back at RCMP Over Racism Remark
Stung by the admission of Canada’s federal police chief that his force includes racist officers, the association representing Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers says the remarks put “officers in harm’s way both legally and personally.” RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson made the remarks while responding to pointed questions about systemic abuse of Canada’s indigenous people after addressing members of the Assembly of First Nations, one of the main groups representing the country’s indigenous groups.
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Stanislaus Jail Guards Pursue Off-Duty Gun Dispute in Appeals Court
Jail guards throughout much of California are watching to see what comes of a court case brought by custodial deputy sheriffs in Stanislaus County who are suing for the right to carry concealed guns off duty without permits. The deputies lost at trial and have appealed, saying that applying for permits, paying fees and renewing every four years is a burden that isn’t forced upon patrol deputies or state prison guards.
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Chicago Union Head: Officers Don’t Want to be Next Headline
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police union president Dean Angelo Sr., a third-generation officer and the father of another, has been an unyielding defender of the rank-and-file since the release of dashcam video showing white Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.
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Rawlings-Blake Recommends 11 Changes to Police “Bill of Rights”
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is recommending 11 changes to Maryland’s Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, which critics say is too protective of officers accused of wrongdoing. In a letter sent to state Sen. Catherine E. Pugh and Del. Curt Anderson, the Baltimore Democrats who co-chair the General Assembly‘s Public Safety and Policy Workgroup, Rawlings-Blake said she is endorsing nine policy changes recommended by Maryland’s police chiefs and sheriffs, calling them “common sense.”
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City Ordered to Give Detectives 28% Raise Over 6 Years
An independent arbitrator has ordered the city to give Boston police detectives a considerable raise — 28.4 percent over six years — a decision that counsel for Mayor Martin J. Walsh called “disappointing” and fiscal watchdogs say will embolden other public safety unions to bargain for more. The award, which the city estimated will cost $23 million, follows a controversial patrolmen’s award issued by an arbitrator in 2013 that included a 25.4 percent pay hike in a package projected to cost taxpayers $87 million.
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Talks Between County and Deputies’s Union Extended Into 2016
Negotiations between the Deputy Sheriff’s Association and Merced County, previously expected to wrap up before the new year, have been prolonged. Phil Brooks, president of the DSA, said the union rejected a county proposal and submitted a counterproposal Monday. The county will need time to review the proposal, which came during the week before Christmas, further prolonging negotiations.
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Fairbanks Tussle With Police Union Over Labor Contract
At its meeting last Monday, the Fairbanks City Council voted to challenge a recent ruling by the Alaska Labor Relations Agency. The agency says the city inappropriately reversed its approval of labor contract. The Fairbanks City Council originally ratified a contract with the Public Safety Employees Association. Then later suspended its rules to reject the contract.
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Police Retention Ideas Gain Little Support in Capitol
SANTA FE – Two new approaches to dealing with a law enforcement shortage in Albuquerque – and other parts of New Mexico – got lukewarm responses Wednesday at the state Capitol, as lawmakers continued to grapple with what’s become a divisive issue. One proposal presented to an interim legislative committee calls for a portion of the money in a state law enforcement fund to be used for retention bonuses that would be made available to law enforcement officers who agreed to stay on the job after becoming eligible for retirement.
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PB Union Troubles Over Decision to Alter Shifts
PORTLAND, ORE. — The Portland Police Association (PPA) filed a grievance this weekend after learning the chief of police will roll out a new shift configuration bureau-wide. On Friday, Chief Lawrence P. O’Dea III sent an email to all bureau employees in which he announced his plan to implement a five shift configuration by February.
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