PAX Centurion - May / June 2015

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • June/July 2015 • Page 3 A Message from the President: Patrick M. Rose, BPPA President We have to work on a family values, reestablish the family unit. I know the family dynamic has evolved, we (the Police) and as a society have to evolve with it and be more accepting and understanding of this new family dynamic. We have to rebuild what once was and should be again. Use money to fund jobs, which will allow young men and woman to earn and become part of society. This is likely the most difficult time in history to be a cop Y ou would have to be living under a rock not to realize that this is likely the most difficult time in history to be a cop. Every person with a camera or cell phone second guessing every action, morally corrupt activists and inept politicians throwing Police Officers under the bus every chance they can. The mainstream media jumping on any and every opportunity to sell advertising space on the backs and lives of police officers, because as we all know they no longer report the news, they exist to simply sell advertising space! Whichever one can make the big- ger splash, broadcast the ‘exclusive’ interview or show the better or bloodier picture gets the viewer and thus the advertising dollars. It’s all about the almighty buck, force the cops to wear body cameras so the public can see what they do? How about find out who owns the stock in those companies, find out which politicians the CEO’s of body camera companies donated to and how much, follow the money. Certain neighborhood activ- ists who revel in their self- appointed role as anti-police, become our ‘friends’ after they receive a healthy grant from the local Government, follow the money. The so-called ‘thug’ culture that is absolutely destroying our society, has nothing to do with youth trying to find an identity, it has to do with selling clothes, jewelry, music, drugs, etc., etc., follow the money. Guns, bought and sold in our streets, shootings, violence and ultimately the deaths that follow, money plain and simple. Protect ‘turf’with guns for what? To sell drugs, to commit other crime that brings in what? Money! Neighborhood alliances that turn into modern day gangs named after streets etc. are what?A group brought together because there is strength in numbers, that strength is relied on to protect the group who is existing to make money. Again, how much does the gun lobby give to politicians annually? It all tracks back to money. Now we have local politicians that are trying to sell the idea of ‘paying’ criminals not to commit crime. I’m sure that’ll work!! Yup, let’s throw money at it, after all that’s the answer for everything, isn’t it? I don’t have the answers, I don’t claim to have the answers, but I do know that money simply thrown at people is not the answer. Plans to use money responsibly must be developed, along with legitimate strategies to combat the root problems. We have to work on family values – reestablish the family unit. I know the family dynamic has evolved, we (the Police) and as a soci- ety have to evolve with it and be more accepting and understanding of this new family dynamic. We have to rebuild what once was and should be again. Use money to fund jobs, which will allow young men and woman to earn and become part of society. Allow them the opportunity to build not only their community but their own self esteem, a feeling of self worth. Use money to build neighborhood youth centers and fund neighborhood sports teams to keep young kids involved, an old saying but it’s true: “kids in sports stay out of courts!” We have to end this finger-pointing at the police as the cause of societal problems! I know we make a convenient scapegoat, but enough is enough. This ongoing rhetoric and scapegoating is getting officers killed! The media, (no, I’m not talking about individual reporters), continues to create unrest with biased reporting, certain politicians do what they do best; simply put the blame on others without taking any responsibility for their own statement, actions or even worse – inac- tion!You can see it at every level of Government across this Nation. However, we in Boston are blessed that we have a Mayor from the neighbor- hoods, supervising a Police Force comprised of mostly neighborhood people that continue to keep city ties and are involved. We must work together to stop the agitators from importing the violence and problems we see around the country into Boston. Demands for review boards, body cameras and onerous oversight and laws do more harm than good. They lend an air of mistrust and foster poor relations between the police and those we police. We do not face the problems that the rest of the country does because we are from the neighborhoods we police. We have a Mayor who understands what it takes and is not afraid to speak up for us. We have a strong, vocal Commissioner who speaks up for us. We are proactive within the neighborhoods we police and I personally believe that the majority of City residents trust us and believe in us. We must guard against allowing onerous or crippling policy and procedure from being developed or implemented which will attack the core value of community policing. Just because a minority of misguided activists may yell the loudest doesn’t make it so. I’ll get off my ‘soap box’ now. It’s been a quick six months, in the following pages you will read updates on quite a bit of what’s been happening. Allow me a few sentences to focus on a couple of items. Our team made promises to you when we ran for office. In the last issue of the PAX, I pointed out quite a few of our goals that were met in an extremely short time. One of the items we had talked about was negotiating with the department, working with them to settle differences and at the mini- mum get something for the membership when forced into policies, practices or changes that would affect the body. I would like to note that in keeping with that promise; we have just entered into a settlement agreement that has brought the single largest raise in pay in the history of the BPPA for the patrol force. The De- partment was poised and positioned to implement a change in what See President on page 29

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