PAX Centurion - March / April 2013

Page 10 • PAX CENTURION • March/April 2013 617-989-BPPA (2772) A recent report in the Boston Herald (3/18) reveals what many of us already knew: applicants for police recruit positions have dropped considerably over the last few years. (In the interests of full disclosure and fairness, on the day following this article, in the same Boston Herald (3/19), the BPD reported a “stunning” increase in the number of applicants following their recruitment efforts “during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade ”, in which cruisers with huge billboards on their roofs and loudspeakers blar- ing announcements about the upcoming test were employed by the “hard-charging police recruiters.” (And before I’m accused of anything, those were the verbatim words of Herald reporter John Zaremba, not mine). Although we all appreciate their efforts, I’m just not sure if recruitment efforts during the St. Patrick’s day parade will exactly yield fruitful results, if you catch my drift…) There are undoubt- edly a number of reasons why prospective officers no longer see the police job as attractive. According to Marsha Haberfeld of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in NewYork: “Police are under fire all the time in the last couple of decades, and in the last few years, more and more. Police cannot do right. Everything they do is wrong. If the perp’s pointing the gun at them, if they kill the perp, they are still doing something wrong. People are not attracted to a profession that is constantly criticized by the media for its performance.” But in informal interviews with many a veteran police officer, a number of other reasons might be at play: • The Quinn bill educational incentive was deep-sixed by the Governor for all officers hired after 2009. There is no longer any Herald report: Police applicants have dwindled By James Carnell, Pax Editor educational incentive for young police officers. • A Boston cop makes about $16,000 less, on average, than a similarly situated Boston Firefighter. • Working late-night shifts, weekends and holidays is not an at- tractive thought to many 20-somethings. • Unlike a firefighter, the threat of lawsuits – both federal, state and civil – is ever-present and increasing in this litigious society. Drug unit officers report multiple lawsuits at any given time, and Fred the Fed is not the friend of the local police officer. • And, not to pick on firefighters, but the truth of the matter is that the public has absolutely no problem with firemen sleeping the night away in the firehouse when it’s not busy (and neither do I!) or having hot meals in the firehouse kitchen, but if a cop tries to catch 20 winks at 4:30AM, a BPD Superintendent may be knocking at the cruiser window. And God forbid, if a cop is having a cup of coffee, some good citizen might poke their head in the cruiser window and snap a cellphone picture. (Don’t laugh, it’s hap- pened.) The truth is the truth, the facts are the facts, like it or not… • Police officers used to arrest criminals and enforce the laws. Today, we have been forced into the roles of the baby-nanny and the social worker by police managers and politicians who have instructed the public that the police should be called about every problem in their lives, no matter how trivial. Every police officer can relate stories about being called to a citizen’s house because their nine-year old won’t do their homework, or they have a water leak, or the electricity is off, etc., etc., ad nauseum. • The general public has been conditioned by police management to complain about the police. InternalAffairs complaints may be filed anonymously, via the Internet, by phone, by letter, or by third parties. Police officers are literally “guilty until proven innocent.” Officers may spend years waiting for the results of the complaints filed against them. • You’re always wrong, you’re never right. Some of the pub- lic complains you were too aggressive, others complain you weren’t aggressive enough. When it’s the other guy who blows a red light, they demand to know why you didn’t give them a ticket. When they blow a red light and cop an attitude, it’s because “you were picking on them” or “didn’t have anything better to do….” • As many a veteran officer said, “I would never encourage my child to join a police department. There’s very little camaraderie anymore, the fun is gone, and it feels like everybody is out to get you, to make you a scapegoat.”You’re constantly looking over your shoulder, even at those you work with. Anything you say, even jokingly, will be picked up by someone with a chip on their shoulder or an axe to grind and amplified into a major incident. Consequently, we no longer trust even the people we work with.” I heard this complaint time and time again. • InBoston in particular, residency for the first 10 years.Many a young prospect with young kids going to school is instantly turned off. There’s probably a number of others. If you think of more, send them in to the Pax . We’ll print them – anonymously - just like the internal affairs complaints you have to respond to…. H ello all, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce my- self. My name is Mike Joyce and I am the new Director of Advertising for the Pax Centurion. While I call many BPD officers personal friends already, there are many more of you that I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet. I grew up in St. Mark’s Parish in Dorchester. I took the position in January and I am determined to raise as much money as possible to allow the BPPA to hand out scholarships to deserving children of our city’s patrolmen and EMS personnel as well as neighborhood groups, youth sports programs, etc. That being said, I would like to ask each of you, as you go about your daily routine, to give some thought to a business or individual that you feel might want to advertise within the pages of the Pax Centurion, and give me a call. I would also ask that you take a close look at the advertising partners in each issue of the Pax and try to patronize their businesses as much as possible.We need to work with those that work with us! Again, I appreciate the opportunity given to me to represent you all in this effort. Please have prospective advertisers contact me at cell: 617-529-9288 or email: mjoyce@bppa.org Regards, Mike Joyce Advertise in the Pax