Senate Approves Amended Police Detail Language; Gov. Patrick Backs Off on Detail Reductions
April 4, 2008
Working with Senator Steven Tolman, the IBPO, MassCOP, and Boston Police Patrolmen's Association successfully got language into the Transportation Bond Bill that amends the original language on police details. The Senate approved the Bond Bill yesterday and moved it to the House for consideration.
Interestingly, Gov. Patrick also appears to be doing some quick back-pedaling on the issue. On WTKK he said, "The more I think about this, the less certain I am that we can fix this top down ... There's a lot we can do about how we deploy the State Police at the state level, but I think we’re going to have to show some respect for the judgments at local levels ..." In other words, let cities and towns continue to make decisions for themselves about police details.
"We still have a long way to go," said IBPO Legislative Director Ray McGrath. "But the amended language we were able to get through in the Senate is definitely a step in the right direction."
The amended Bill includes language stating, "the regulations and guidelines shall not disrupt any collective bargaining agreement." It also stated, "the awarding authority of the public works contract shall have the authority to determine the appropriate traffic control measures ..."
In an email to state senators sent early yesterday, it was stated that, "Concerns have been raised that the Senate's proposal would override collective bargaining agreements or local ordinances. Nothing in the Senate's proposal would do so, and that is emphatically NOT our intention."
The new language also adds clarification to a report that must be submitted, detailing the amount paid for traffic details for construction details. With the amended language, the report, due no later than December 31, 2008, distinguishes municipal details from state police details. It says, "Said report shall distinguish for each the traffic details performed by municipal police versus traffic details performed by state police. It shall also identify what percentage of the total cost of the project the traffic detail work represented."
View the amended bill. Amendments are highlighted in yellow.