UMass Police, IBPO Testify For Group 4 at State House
July 29, 2009
A Massachusetts State House hearing room was full of blue uniforms on Monday as a legislative committee considered a bill to give University of Massachusetts police officers the same retirement classification as municipal officers.
More than a dozen officers IBPO members from the UMass campuses in Amherst and Dartmouth attended the hearing of the Joint Committee on Public Service in support of Senate Bill 1125, which would reclassify UMass officers from Group 2 into Group 4. Group 4 already includes municipal police officers.
"UMass police officers are full police officers, not 'campus security'," said IBPO Legislative Director Ray McGrath. "They carry weapons, go through municipal officer training, have mutual aid agreements with surrounding towns, handle a much higher level of crime than many similarly sized communities, and are recognized in other parts of state law as full police officers.
"They handle more cases and more serious crime than many small-town departments. They deserve to receive the full benefits of their public service on par with their brothers and sisters in uniform."
As members of Group 2, they have to work to a later age to retire with full benefits than Group 4 members who work for municipal departments.
Sergeant Sean Ward and Officer James Sullivan from IBPO Local 432 at UMass Amherst testified in support of the bill, as did Officer Chris Stechmann. Among the others who testified in support of the bill were UMass Amherst Police Chief Johnny Whitehead, State Sen. Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst), Rep. Ellen Story (D-Amherst), and IBPO Legislative Director Ray McGrath. The chairpeople of the committee, Rep. Robert Spillane (D-Worcester) and Sen. Thomas McGee (D-Lynn), both attended the hearing. Rep. Spillane showed particular interest in the bill and had several questions for McGrath.