Boston Police Patrolmen's Association

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Important Notification, Please Read

Dear NAPO members:

In just six weeks, deep, automatic cuts in federal funding, known as sequestration, will begin to take effect. According to the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Justice’s justice assistance grant programs will be cut by 8.2 percent across the board. Unless Congress changes the underlying law, similar–or much deeper–cuts will occur every year for the next ten years. This will affect the Byrne JAG, COPS Hiring, Meth lab, Bullet Proof Vest, and many more programs.

It is important for the law enforcement community to join together in explaining the vital role these federal dollars play in our ability to protect the public safety, build stable communities, and continue to test innovative methods for

Please click on this link to sign onto a letter to Congress: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dEtTWnhMNnBka0VmbVhDQjROZ0otdWc6MQ. It will take less than two minutes. And it will make a difference.

Local, state, tribal and national law enforcement and prosecution agencies and associations are welcome to sign, as well as individual officers, deputies and prosecutors. (Only law enforcement and prosecution on this letter, please. Another will be coming soon for other components of the criminal justice system.)

If you have any questions about the letter, please contact Bill Johnson, Executive Director, at bjohnson@napo.org.

Thank you very much.

Bill

William J. Johnson
Executive Director
National Association of Police Organizations, Inc.
317 South Patrick Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
(703) 549-0775 office
(703) 684-0515 fax
bjohnson@napo.org
www.napo.org

2012 bppa scholarships

TO:                  All BPPA Members

FROM:             David Fitzgerald, Treasurer

DATE:             September 18, 2012

SUBJECT:        Tuition Scholarships

This letter is of vital importance to every member of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association who has dependent

The House of Representatives has not yet determined how many scholarships will be awarded, or their value.  It will be comparable to the amounts given in years past.  The winners are selected at a random drawing at the House of Representative Meeting on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 (note deadline above). 

Scholarships will be awarded as follows:

1. Each child of a member in good standing is eligible. (Documentation of child’s relationship to member is required and may include but is not limited to birth certificates, income tax returns, etc).
2. Each child may be entered once and only once in the annual random drawing. A duplicate entry will disqualify the child, and nullify any prize awarded.
3. Children currently attending tuition based school; the sponsoring member parent may present evidence of tuition costs and elect an immediate lump sum payment of the scholarship award.
4. Children not currently attending tuition based school, the scholarship award shall be placed in a college savings financial vehicle determined by the BPPA Treasurer and approved by the House of Representatives.  The BPPA and the named member’s child shall jointly own the savings plan. If the child does not attend a tuition based school by their 20^th birthday, the entire scholarship amount will revert back to the BPPA scholarship fund or any other BPPA fund at the discretion of the House of Representatives.

The deadline for filing is Monday, November 19, 2012 by 5:00PM.  You may obtain an application from your Shift Representative, by contacting the BPPA offices or at bppa.org.  The awards will be distributed at the House of Representatives 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at the BPPA Offices at 9-11 Shetland Street, Roxbury, MA  02119. 

Remember the deadline is Monday, November 19, 2012 at 5:00 p.m.

**Scholarship Award Form**

Major Victory for BPPA

In a major victory for the BPPA, Arbitrator Richard Boulanger yesterday ordered the immediate reinstatement with full back pay of Officer Baltazar DaRosa.  Arbitrator Boulanger found that the Department did not have just cause to terminate Officer DaRosa in December 2010.  The Department charged DaRosa with involvement in a 2004 murder that occurred at a Cape Verdean Night at a night club in Randolph.  DaRosa’s cousin is the main suspect in the crime, of which DaRosa has steadfastly denied any knowledge.  

Arbitrator Boulanger found that although the Department investigated the case for almost seven years, it produced no evidence that DaRosa knew of or was involved in the crime in any way.  He found that DaRosa did not violate any department rules justifying termination.  He ordered DaRosa reinstated and made whole – with full back pay and lost detail and overtime earnings.

Attorney Bryan Decker from Sandulli Grace, PC represented the BPPA in the case.  He received assistance in the case from James Gilden, General Counsel to MAMLEO, of which Officer DaRosa is a member. 

View Award

The PAX CENTURION and THE BPPA

The PAX CENTURION and its editor, James Carnell, have come under attack over these past few weeks and we, the elected leadership of the BPPA, feel we must respond.

We utterly reject the ugly accusations which are currently being hurled against Jim Carnell, our Union, and our members.  For many years, Jim has taken on a thankless task of trying to keep our members, the police community, and our supporters apprised of the issues confronting us and the battles we have waged.  He has chronicled our fights to secure decent contracts, protect members unfairly disciplined, and secure legislative and other benefits, such as being paid what we were promised for advancing our education.  Of course, none of the media has bothered to point to these writings, which form the vast bulk of Jim’s work.

Also not addressed in the media fury is that most, and in recent years, all of the net revenues derived from advertising in the PAX have funded scholarships for the children of our members,  These scholarships are distributed by a lottery with each member having an equal opportunity to advance his or her child’s education.  For the support for these scholarships we have received from our advertisers, we and our members are enormously grateful.

In addition, aside from the scholarship fund, the BPPA makes extremely generous donations from its general fund to any worthwhile organization.  Contrary to accusations that we do not care about the “Community”, we have donated tens of thousands of dollars to youth sports, school groups and charitable causes affecting police officers, their families, and the general public on an annual basis.  These donations have been made to groups and individuals in every district and neighborhood of Boston. The only requirement for such assistance is that a member of the BPPA make a request through his/her elected representative. 

The PAX has always explicitly stated that any opinions expressed in the paper are those of its editor and not necessarily those of the leadership or members.  We have respected Jim’s right to express his personal views.  To the extent that critics gratuitously call us bigots or racists, we wholly reject such scurrilous attacks.  If our Union stands for anything, it is our shared belief that every member, and indeed every person, deserves to be treated fairly and decently, without regard to race, gender, ethnicity, or any other such label.

This controversy has served notice that greater oversight of the PAX is warranted.  Like it or not, the public views articles in the paper not just as Jim’s or other writers but as the shared beliefs of all of us.  

To that end, we want to reach out to our membership to contribute to the paper, thereby reducing the burden on the few among us, like Jim Carnell, who have shouldered all of the responsibility for filling its pages.

Going forward, we want to ensure that the PAX reflects our mission, as set out in our Bylaws: “…to elevate the social, civic, and intellectual standing of our members; to promote and protect the welfare of one another; to provide aid, assistance, and defense – financial, legal and otherwise – to our members in matters of common interests to all Police Officers; to cultivate feelings of friendship among persons in public office responsible for humane exercise of progressive public policies affecting police administration; to mitigate the hazards of our work; to advance workable programs for improved salaries and other conditions of employment; to further measures of excellence in and for our public salaries and other conditions of employment; to further measures of excellence in and for our public service; and to realize in our pursuit for happiness and equal opportunity with all people in our public care.”

BPD ACKNOWLEDGES MEMBERS ‘COMP TIME’ RIGHTS

Commanders,

The Department has recently been put on notice by the BPPA they are considering a federal law suit alleging that the BPD is violating the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This email is intended to inform you of the allegations and give instruction on how to comply with the FLSA.

The first allegation is that the Department is denying officers when they request to take time off as WO days. Under the FLSA when an officer has acquired comp. time the standard to deny the use of that com. time determined to be FLSA comp. time is that it must be Unduly Disruptive to the organization. It has been litigated and determined that just because giving an officer a WO day would incur OT that does not make it unduly disruptive. When determining whether to approve a requested FLSA WO day off, commanders should consider does granting that day off put the public safety at risk. Days such as Marathon, Caribbean Festival, and other special events such as a World Series or Super Bowl would most likely be considered Unduly Disruptive and allow for the denial of a FLSA WO day. This is likely to result in an increase to the OT budget throughout the Department but that is almost unavoidable. The FLSA looks at comp. time no differently that OT it is just that the employee is compensated by time off instead of by monetary compensation.

The second allegation is that officers are being ordered to use their comp. time and bring down their banks. The BPPA considers this a change that cannot be made without bargaining. This practice should stop until the Department can notice and have a dialogue with the union on this subject.

Commanders should also be aware they are under no obligation to approve comp. time when it is requested. Under the CBA with all four Police Unions comp. time is mutually agreed upon. When considering a request for comp. time commanders should look upon the request EXACTLY as if it were an overtime request and then make a decision whether to approve or deny the request.

Please contact the Office of Labor Relations with any questions. The Department is in the process of scheduling another presentation on this topic in the near future for all commanders and time clerks.

Respectfully

AL Andres

Deputy Superintendent Alfredo Andres

Commander, Office of Labor Relations

One Schroeder Plaza

Boston, MA 02120