BOSTON – The largest union representing Boston police officers has agreed to a new contract with the city, including a first-of-its-kind provision that could make it easier to fire any officer facing certain serious criminal charges.
Members of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association approved the new contract Monday night, signing off on changes to the department’s disciplinary policy as well as cost-of-living pay raises, adjustments to medical leave and other changes, officials said.
While past contracts have focused primarily on officer compensation, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said this is the first collective bargaining agreement with the police union to include major changes to department operations.
Wu said the contract was “unlike any other the city has ever reached with our law enforcement personnel”.
The agreement comes more than three years after the last contract between the city and the union expired. The contract, which would last until 2025, now goes to the Boston City Council for approval.
Officer discipline
The contract lists more than two dozen offenses that could lead to an officer’s termination without the possibility of arbitration, a process that can often reduce or overturn an officer’s punishment.
The offences listed include drug trafficking, rape, hate crimes and murder. A sustained complaint by the department’s internal affairs office or a criminal charge for one of the offences would cost an officer the right to challenge any discipline through arbitration.
“There should be no loophole for those who commit serious crimes to wear a badge,” Wu said on Tuesday.
Not many police departments have similar limits on disciplinary arbitration, said Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox.
“This is an extraordinary start to making sure that people who are fired stay fired,” Cox said.
Larry Calderone , the president of the union, called the disciplinary changes a “no-brainer”.
“This is a contract that is fair and equitable to the men and women in uniform who answer these calls for service,” Calderone said on Tuesday. “At the same time, we have helped policing evolve. I know the famous word out there is ‘reform’. But I like to think of it as policing evolving. We are moving policing into the future.”
The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association represents about 70% of Boston police officers.
More than 10% of Boston’s patrol officers had been on sick leave for more than a year when contract negotiations began, city officials said. Faced with staffing shortages, the police department resorted to mandatory overtime to cover shifts.
The new contract changes the arbitration process for officers on extended medical leave. If there is a disagreement about an officer’s ability to return to work, an independent medical examiner will now determine whether the officer can return to light duty.
Paid detail work
Boston police officers were previously the only employees eligible to work paid details for major public events, road construction and other projects that disrupt traffic. But more than 40% of detail shifts go unfilled, and high-priority details are covered by mandatory overtime, according to the mayor’s office.
A wider pool of civil servants will now be eligible to fill the shifts on these details. If a detail is not filled by Boston police officers, retired officers, university police and other public safety personnel will be able to fill in.
The contract also included organisational changes that officials said would modernise the process of filling police details.
Cost of living, training incentives and other changes
The new contract would cost an estimated $82.3 million over five years, retroactive to 2020 and running through next summer. It represents a 21% pay increase for union members, which city officials said was in line with recent contracts over the past decade. The contract includes cost-of-living adjustments ranging from 1% to 2.5% over the five years.
Among other provisions, police officers will now have more universities and programmes to choose from if they want to pursue a college degree, which can lead to a salary increase.