Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, Inc. PRST. STD. 9-11 Shetland Street U.S. POSTAGE Boston, Massachusetts 02119 PAID PERMIT NO. 2226 POINT / COUNTERPOINT WORCESTER, MA On the Proposed Wage Freeze See articles on page A7 Nation’s First Police Department • Established 1854 Volume 39, Number 1 • January/February 2009 PPAXAXCENTURIONCENTURION Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, Inc. Boston Emergency Medical Technicians Inconvenient facts: Layoffs loom, wage freeze awaits Woodman’s juvenile conduct By James W. Carnell, Pax Editor resulted in his arrest, s the Pax goes to print for this edition, layoffs and wage freezes hang in the wind. A meeting scheduled for A February 11th between the BPPA bargaining committee and the city was postponed, but it is widely expected but his ill-health resulted that the city will soon formally propose a wage freeze which will delay the 2009 negotiated payraise of 4.15% until in his tragic death at least 2010. By James Carnell, Pax Editor Accepting that wage freeze will not prevent layoffs, but the city has threatened through their allies at the newspa- fter seven long months, the officers involved with per editorial boards (Globe and Herald) that layoffs could be worse if we don’t accept their wage freeze proposal, A the arrest of David Woodman following the effectively placing the onus of blame for the fiscal crisis upon the patrol force. Celtics’ victory “celebrations” have been completely At this writing (2-9-09), it remains completely unknown how many actual layoffs may or may not occur and cleared of any wrongdoing. whether accepting the (expected) wage freeze proposal will defer any real number of those potential job cuts. Unfor- The case had been touted by the well-known, cop- tunately, all information about these alleged layoffs has been funneled by the city through their consorts in the media hating attorney Howard Friedman, some Woodman rather than through meetings with the BPPA leadership and bargaining committee. Therefore, officially, we cannot family members and friends, and several all-too-will- report at this time exactly how many officers may be facing potential layoff. Whatever proposal is placed before the ing accomplices in the media as an example of “exces- BPPA leadership and bargaining committee must eventually come before the governing board of the BPPA – the sive police-use of force.” But in a thorough, 2-inch- House of Representatives – and then, if the proposal amounts to a change or alteration of the current contract (as thick report, Suffolk County D.A. Dan Conley’s of- expected), the matter must be voted on by the full membership. fice unequivocally dismissed that false claim and found (continued on page A8) that officers used reasonable force and sound judgment during the arrest and subsequent cardiac arrhythmia suffered by David Woodman, who died 10 days later President Nee goes to D.C. while at the hospital under the care of medical profes- sionals when he suffered a second arrhythmic episode. Seeks inclusion of federal funds, grants for The Pax Editor was allowed to view the final inves- tigative report after it was publicly announced by the police departments, personnel retention D.A. and the FACTS, though they are inconvenient By James Carnell, Pax Editor many of the unfunded mandates they for Attorney Friedman, the media and the Woodman PPA President Tom Nee recently currently labor under. Since the over- family, are as follows: B was called to Washington, D.C. whelming majority of any municipal After the Celtics’ victory on June 18th, Woodman, to advocate on behalf on police offic- police department’s budget is com- who had been drinking alcohol for several hours with ers and police departments for federal prised of personnel costs, Nee was his friends at local bars and other locations, approached funds to provide much-needed mon- hopeful that any federal funds would a group of officers stationed in the Fenway area to pre- ies for local policing efforts. include not just targeted grant money vent rioting and crowds from gathering. He was hold- A very-fluid and rapidly-changing but might also be allowed to include ing an open cup of beer. Woodman then made a smart- political dynamic required Nee to fly items such as labor force retention. It aleck comment with words to the effect of “Wow, a lot to Washington DC as efforts to include is minimally anticipated and expected of crime around here, isn’t there officers?” When or- funds for police departments appeared that the Mayor and the City of Boston NAPO secures over $3B dered to drop the beer, Woodman proceeded to take a in danger of being excluded from the will be indebted to the BPPA for our In funds for police matters so-called national stimulus bill at the tireless efforts focused on securing sip, and then threw the beer down, splashing some of See story on page A2 the liquid on one of the officers. Ordered to stop, 11th hour. As President of NAPO (Na- funds for the BPD. Woodman began to flee and then resisted arrest, grab- tional Association of Police Organi- zations) as well as being President of bing onto the railings of a fence and flailing his arms, The advertisers of the Pax Centurion do requiring several officers to handcuff him. According the BPPA, Nee has been an outspo- not necessarily endorse the opinions of the to the report, he first questioned his arrest, and then ken advocate for federal assistance as Pax Centurion/Boston Police Patrolmen’s began snoring and appeared to pass out. Reasonably local and state aid has dried up in a de- Association. believing him to be drunk, the officers laid him down pressed economy. The advertisers are in support of the BPPA on his side in case he vomited, and called for an ambu- As Pax press time neared, Nee was Scholarship Fund and every patrolmen lance for what appeared to be “an extremely drunk hopeful that our political allies would who risks his or her life to protect and serve the community. (continued on page A6) come to see the wisdom of unburden- ing cash-strapped municipalities from Nation’s First Police Department From the President: Thomas J. Nee Unity & Strength PAX NAPO secures over CENTURION $3B in funds for police matters n February 12th, Congress came to an agreement on the final provisions of the stimu- Olus bill (H.R. 1). Both the House and the Senate are expected to take up and pass the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, Inc. bill by February 14th at the latest. Boston Emergency Medical Technicians For the COPS hiring program, NAPO was able to secure $1 billion in funding for the hiring and re-hiring of officers, as well as a waiver of both the 25% local match 9-11 Shetland Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02119 and the $75,000 per officer salary cap.While H.R. 1 does not include language to allow Phone: 617-989-BPPA (2772) cops funding to be used for the retention of officers, we are waiting to hear final word Fax: 617-989-2779 from the COPS Office on whether or not the funds can be used for retention. If the stimu- lus funding ultimately cannot be used for retention, NAPO is working with members of www.bppa.org Union Printworks Congress and the COPS Office to place retention language in the upcoming Fiscal 2009 Volume 39, No. 1 • Readership 125,000 • January/February 2009 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill. (continued on page A5) BOARD OF EDITORS Thomas J. Nee, Executive Director James Carnell, Managing Editor Ronald MacGillivray, Vice President John Broderick, Jr., Secretary Mark Bruno, Pat Rose, Thomas Pratt, Treasurer Assistant Managing Editors EMS Officers James Orsino, President John Bilotas, Secretary Robert Morley, Vice President Anthony O’Brien, Treasurer Len Shubitowski, Chief Steward Bulk Mailing Postage Paid at Worcester, Mass., Permit No. 2226 BPPA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AREA A AREA B AREA C Brian Reaney • Tom Corbett David Fitzgerald • Michael Sullivan Timothy Golden • Bill Hogan John Bates • Jimmy Carnell Cynthia Beckford-Brewington Joe Miskel • Mark Bruno Michael Leary • Robert Anthony Richard McCormack Patrick Rose • Chuck Kelley Bob Luongo • James Warmsley Steve Parham • Vincent Stephens AREA D AREA E AREA F Scott Yanovich Michael Harrington • Paul Nee IDENT. UNIT – Michael Griffin Robert Butler • Greg Lynch Lawrence Calderone DRUG UNIT – Paul Quinn Tim Donovan • Samuel Berte Gerald Rautenberg • Steve Kelley YVSF – Steve Fabiano Tom Barrett Arthur McCarthy • Angel Figueroa Vance Mills Chris Morgan • Richard Jordan M.O.P. RADIO SHOP / P.D.S. TURRET Mike Mylett John Kundy John Conway • Curtis Carroll Vice President Joe Biden goes over the police package in the John Ridion P.D.S. – Karen VanDyke Horace Kincaide stimulus bill as BPPA President Tom Nee and other NAPO members ACADEMY / RANGE HARBOR E.S.U. look on. EVIDENCE MANAGEMENT Jeff Tobin Hector Cabrera • Francis Deary Paul Downey HEADQUARTERS K-9 / MOUNTED MASTER AT ARMS BPPA President Eric Hardin Kevin Ford • Thomas O’Donnell Robert Lundbohm • Mike Murphy Tom Nee and U.S. John Rogers Vice President BPPA COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS Joe Biden offer AWARDS PUBLIC RELATIONS congratulations Bob Butler • J. Broderick • G. Rautenberg Jim Barry on the passage of GRIEVANCE PAX CENTURION Bob Butler • Jim Carnell • Brian Reaney Jim Carnell • Mark Bruno • Patrick Rose the stimulus bill Mike Leary • Tom Pratt • Dave Fitzgerald BYLAWS containing police BUILDING Tom Nee funding. Tom Nee HEALTH and SAFETY / LABOR MANAGEMENT BARGAINING John Kundy Tom Nee • Ron MacGillivray • Brian Reaney ELECTIONS Tom Pratt • Dave Fitzgerald Dave Fitzgerald LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION Jim Barry Tom Nee MassPULL DETAILS / OVERTIME Jim Barry Brian Reaney • Patrick Rose TO ADVERTISE IN THE PAX CENTURION Call the Pax Centurion Advertising Staff at: COMMONWEALTH PRODUCTIONS: 781-848-8224 • Fax: 781-848-8041 EDITORIAL POLICY 1.