Amid cuts, big pay for police
Even as Boston police officials laid off cadets and cut popular units like the mounted patrol, some police officers managed to dramatically boost their paychecks last year, in a few cases to more than a quarter of a million dollars.
Some of the officers earned extra cash because contracts require that officers working a detail or testifying in court be paid for a minimum of four hours. In one case, a lieutenant was paid for four hours after 15 minutes of case preparation.
Okay, a couple of things to get out of the way first:
1. The concept that anyone's pay is "excessive" is complete and utter bullshit. Whether it's the CEO of a corporation making $10 million a year or a Boston cop making $250K a year, their pay is their pay. Whether they should be compensated to that extent is a matter for the Board of Directors in one case and the supervising agencies of Boston in the second. Whether these agencies perform adequately is a matter for another discussion.
Unless and until there is proof of actual fraud, if they work the hours, they get the pay. Obviously if someone's collecting when they're not on the job that's wrong, but if the person in question is showing up, doing what they're supposed to be doing, etc. then they've earned the damn money. You think it's excessive? Then offer incoming folks much less to do the job and see what kind of response you get.
2. My dad's a retired MA state police officer. He worked 80+ hours a week for months at a stretch sometimes pulling details and such to support us growing up. I'd wager if one were to look at a good number of those "excessive" police salaries, there's an absolute ton of overtime from details and similar opportunities.
Now, should they be offered to the lowest-paid officers first? Certainly. However, as certain as death and taxes, that overtime gets offered to the guys with the most seniority as per union rules. I'd bet money on that, and I'm not a betting man. It's funny, isn't it, how the same cast of characters who rail about the fact that a cop makes a quarter mil would be the first to step in and defend the unions as "necessary" for the common worker...
That said, hey, if the money's out there to be made, power to those cops. As long as they're not padding with false details - their butt is actually in the seat of the cruiser - they're fine in my book. Now, you tell me we need to change the system, I agree completely. You tell me we need to change the fact that a cop who shows up for 15 minutes of court time should automatically be paid for four hours of work, I say, sure. Good luck getting that past the union, pal. But don't be haranging the beat cops who work their butts off just because they made X amount of money in a year.
Blame the pols who glad-handle the union reps and cave to outrageous demands for the support of the local FOP come election time, not the men and women in blue.
That is all.
5 comments:
I know Sgts that don't want to promote, because their pay would go down since they'd lose the overtime...
WV- forty Yeah, 40 hours and 40 hours of O/T makes a NICE paycheck...
Seems to be a running theme in the papers lately. Last fall our local rag FOILed the county payroll records and published a list online of every county employee's name and income for the last couple years (including mine).
Last month they did the same thing for the city payroll, and were incensed that the top ten earners were cops and fire chiefs.
As to the "four hour minimum" for extra duty... my (union) contract has a two-hour minimum for "call-ins" - that is, work that does not extend a scheduled shift. That may be a training, a meeting, or, yes, a court appearance.
A couple hours extra pay is entirely reasonable for someone who works shift work outside the normal M-F 8-5 grind - it means I'm coming in on my "night" or "weekend" in order to do work that fits the schedule of the rest of the world. I'm losing sleep and/or losing time at home with my family in order to do so. It means getting dressed for a work day (or better, in the case of court), commuting in to the office or courthouse, doing what's necessary, and then going on home.
Working shift work is brutal on social and family life. I see my wife 3-4 evenings a week for an hour or two. I don't have the luxury of going out with friends for a beer after work. Poker games, sporting events - and when kids arrive, school events - all are rare treats now. Compensating someone to work those hours and provide what society has deemed a "necessary service" is not unreasonable.
(Better fix: tell the DA to pick up the phone and call witnesses to tell them their appearance isn't necessary when the dirtbag in question has skipped the state. It'll save me a morning and the county a couple hours of overtime.)
The Boston Glob has been anti union (especially their own) and anti cop for a long, long time. Remember, the management pretty much busted their own union by threatening to close down the paper if they didn't take big cuts. Then management rewarded themselves with bonuses for saving the paper.
I worked 20 of the last 36 hours on overtime and I know some coworkers who did almost as much. That covered both of my days off this week, which meant that my family barely saw me. It's the same for police officers or fire fighters who work overtime. They are working overtime, but to read the Glob (and to a lesser extent the Herald) you'd think that these guys were sitting home getting money tossed at them. They are out there working to make ends meet.
But you know all that because you saw your dad do it for years and years. That would include some years when the troopers worked long hours for very short money.
The only thing I'm curious about is why a Lieutenant is working hourly, instead of salary.
4 hours minimum for a court appearance? What ZerCool said --
Look at crime states by time of day, and figure what YOUR job would be like if, on a regular basis, you have to get up, get dressed "business formal", drive to the courthouse before 3 AM, and wait around for the case to come up on the docket.
Then look at which shift a new cop is MOST likely to get -- the crappy one. So this type of rule generally benefits the new cop the most. It does seem silly that supervisors (like a Lieutenant) are on the same pay plan as the beat cop, but hey, it's the contracted pay for the contracted work. (Maybe they need a new contract, with LTs and higher on salary. . . )
These jobs are non traditional work week {Sat/Sun off 40 hrs} and require people who perform them to make sacrifices for the "job".
They deserve whatever compensation they have contracted.
The news media always point out the exterme end of the spectrum in an attempt to rile taxpayers.
Post a Comment