Recent Developments In Public Safety Labor Relations

MIAMI, FL – The Miami Police Department said it has cleared up any problems within its system after allegations it was fudging crime statistics numbers.

However, the Fraternal Order of Police said the investigation is far from over.

Police Chief John Timoney said a federal report found near perfect practices at the department. He said the report is vindication for Miami PD.

The police union's president, however, said it is merely "smoke and mirrors."

"The report speaks for itself," Timoney said.

The chief, surrounded by press and his boss – the city manager, discussed the federal audit.

"To have an accuracy of 99.5 percent is very, very good," Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez said. "It's excellent."

The FBI said it tracked a random sampling of calls, more than 1,000, made to Miami 911 operators in June 2007. The audit was triggered by police union complaints that the department was altering its numbers to make crime statistics look better.

The chief said the audit put those allegations to rest.

"I'm not bragging, but when I walked through the doors here five and a half years ago, there was no confidence from any part of the public in this department," Timoney said. "Now, this department is used as a national model, even though some people are trying to take it down."

"I hope he didn't do his victory dance too soon," said Fraternal Order of Police President Armando Aguilar.

Aguilar's union initially brought the complaint of underreporting.

Union officials said that the audit was just a two-day affair of a look at whether Miami crime reports are being accurately sent to the FBI, not an investigation into the reports themselves, which the union said were doctored.

"The FDLE is looking at a lot more details than the FBI did," Aguilar said. "Their investigation is ongoing. Basically, I was led to believe that every time they look underneath a rock, they find more stuff."

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said the probe it began looking into statistics at the department last year is ongoing.

The State Ethics Committee found probable cause last week that Timoney violated ethics rules by not reporting the free use of a Lexus sport utility vehicle that he drove from about a year.

The chief denied to comment on his next moves in that case.

After Seven Years With No Contract, Pennsylvania Police union picks new head

SCRANTON, PA – After working nearly seven years without an employment contract, Scranton police have elected a new union leader, and city officials said they will immediately reach out with the hope of establishing new bargaining sessions.

Detective Sgt. Bob Martin was elected union president by a lopsided margin, receiving about three times as many votes as incumbent Anne Marie Stulgis during a meeting of E.B. Jermyn Lodge Fraternal Order of Police on Sunday night. Officer Kyle Kemp ran with little support.

Detective Sgt. Martin, who has worked for the U.S. Secret Service and with the Scranton police bomb squad, confirmed his victory Monday and said he was pleased with the support of the rank and file.

“Obviously I am happy. I won’t have my inauguration until the next union meeting, which is in about a week, but I’m ready for the challenge,” said Detective Sgt. Martin, who pledged to be open with the public where warranted.

Detective Sgt. Martin said he will proceed with contract talks, optimistic that a deal can be struck. But he doesn’t expect that will happen suddenly just because there has been a change in union leadership.

He said his priority is to ascertain and try to accomplish what the union desires, which is a fair contract.

City administrators hope to make progress with the new union leadership.

“I will probably call Sgt. Martin and see if we can set up a meeting soon,” city business administrator Stu Renda said Monday. “We congratulate him and look forward to working with him.”

“I’m happy,” said Al Leoncini, the acting captain of detectives for the Police Department. “I supported Bob Martin, but do I think this will (automatically) get us a new contract? No.’’

Capt. Leoncini, like Detective Sgt. Martin, was not critical of Ms. Stulgis, but thought it was time for new leadership. Ms. Stulgis has been at the forefront of negotiations since the current contract expired in 2002. Earlier this year, city officials accused her of scuttling a proposal that other union negotiators favored, which would have brought officers their first pay increases in nearly seven years.

The revelation came shortly after a judge threw out arbitration victories by the police and firefighters unions and gave the city the ability to implement terms of its recovery plan, which was approved by voters six years ago.

Next month, the state Labor Relations Board is expected to hear an unfair-labor-practice charge against city administrators for allegedly releasing details of the contract offer made in December. The five-page, 46-point complaint does not seek specific damages, but such charges can often result in fines if proven. The complaint’s premise is that city administrators should not have disclosed terms of the contract offer to The Times-Tribune.

City officials said they were merely responding to Ms. Stulgis’ public claims the city had offered police nothing.

Providence Firefighters Win 10th Straight Pension-Related Arbitration

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Providence firefighters union has won an arbitration decision that will mean higher pensions for a small group of retirees who retired from 2001 to 2004, the latest in a string of arbitration victories for the union.

"This is the 10th consecutive pension-related victory that we've won, in arbitration, in grievances and in the court and yet they continue to fight us tooth and nail," said Paul Doughty, president of Providence's Local 799 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.

Arbitrator Mark L. Irvings ruled that the city violated the contracts for the years from 2001 to 2004 by failing to pay firefighters who retired during that period annual 3-percent compounded cost-of-living increases on their pensions.

Instead, the city was paying the retirees a smaller benefit, based on a city ordinance, not the fire contract.

That will mean a retroactive pay award for the 37 firefighers affected and higher payments going forward.

Despite the retroactive pay award, this decision is not expected to mean a big financial hit for the city, with its $616.7 million budget. Only 37 firefighters are affected, and to varying degrees, depending on their retirement date. Kerbel would not put a dollar figure on how much it would cost, but Doughty mentioned the $100,000 range as a possibility.

Providence has long been mired in a series of arbitrations with its fire union, which has a fractured relationship with Mayor David N. Cicilline's administration.

Chief of Administration Richard I. Kerbel said that the city plans to continue to fight for a reduction in the costs of retiree benefits, particularly the annual increases.

"We're looking to have reasonable COLAs. That's something the mayor has talked about forever -- reasonable pension costs," he said.

This fight was touched off last May, when a retiree realized that his pension payments weren't adding up to what he thought they should.

Earlier arbitration decisions had mandated that the cost-of- living allowance be a compounded 3-percent of a retiree's entire pension. It would start in January after the third anniversary of an employee's retirement.

But following the arbitration decision that settled the 2001 to 2004 contract years, the city was not paying those cost-of-living increases to retirees who left city service during that period.

Instead, it was substituting a smaller annual increase of $360, based on a city ordinance that limited the cost-of-living increase to a non-compounded 3-percent on the first $12,000 of a retiree's pension -- which works out to the flat dollar amount of $360.

The union filed a grievance contesting this and the two sides went to arbitration.

The city argued that previous court decisions have ruled that retiree benefit levels are not affected by arbitration decisions on active firefighter contracts.

The union argued that although the arbitration award was issued after the firefighters' retirement, they were active firefighters while the arbitration was pending and the contracts unresolved. All firefighters who were active on July 1, 2001, should be granted the 3-percent compounded increase, the union argued.

The city also argued that the union had missed deadlines for filing its grievance.

The court ruled that because the firefighters had retired between the effective date of the contract and the date of the decision, they should be covered.

This decision may have an impact on subsequent arbitration decisions. The city and the fire union are in arbitration on the 2006 fiscal year and the arbitrator's award in this case states that the higher benefit levels "shall also be paid prospectively."

Doughty said the meaning of that is clear: this applies in the future.

"It seems to me that his position here and his position in this award will make it crystal clear," he said.

Kerbel said that the city is looking at the potential impacts of this on future arbitration awards.

"The city's concerned and will always make an argument of controlling pension costs. Will it be something that an arbitration will consider when they make a decision? Sure," he said.

Overtime Replacement Costs scuttles firefighter demotions In Flint, Michigan

FLINT, MI – City officials have changed their minds about demoting a dozen fire department supervisors.

Ray Barton, head of the firefighters union, said the city reversed 12 planned demotions after the union pointed out that expected cost savings would be eaten away by overtime.

One firefighter who was demoted last week saw his salary drop $3 an hour, but Barton said the city had to pay another officer overtime to cover the shift - costing the city more than it was saving.

The planned cuts called for reducing the number of fire lieutenants from 28 to 18 and cutting the number of fire sergeants from four to two.

The cuts were projected to save $6,000 to $12,000, depending on the rank of the firefighter.

Factoring in vacations and required days off this summer, Barton said the city would have been paying a lot of overtime to make sure it had enough fire officers on duty.

Two 911 employees who were laid off as part of the cost-cutting moves were not affected by the change, although Barton said one of those workers since has retired.

City officials steadily have reorganized departments and cut staffing levels citywide this year as part of efforts to offset a projected multimillion-dollar deficit.

Police Union Wants City Council Member's E-Mails

COLTON, CA – The Colton Police Officers' Association claims incriminating e-mails found in Councilman Richard DeLaRosa's city-issued e-mail account are being withheld following an official request by the association for the information.

The association also says it was denied a copy of an investigative report into allegations of misconduct by Cpl. Wes Bruhn, the former police association president. DeLaRosa accused Bruhn of misconduct last year, and an administrative investigation was subsequently launched.

Bruhn was cleared of any wrongdoing, said Kyle Kershner, president of the police officers' association.

The association is considering filing a lawsuit against DeLaRosa, alleging he made false allegations, but it needs the report to build its case, Kershner said.

The city denied the association a copy of the report because it pertained to a personnel matter and is not a public record, an official said.

Assistant City Attorney Marco Martinez said the controversial e-mails do not pertain to official city business, and are therefore not subject to public disclosure.

"It was basically junk mail and stories that were sent to the city e-mail account," Martinez said.

DeLaRosa said he had been unaware of the e-mails, which he said were spam. He said he later learned the e-mails contained crude political jokes and stories.

He said he never opened the e-mails and would make them available upon request to any citizen who stops by his office at City Hall, 650 N. La Cadena Drive.

Steven J. Brock, the attorney representing the association, is seeking a court order compelling the city to release the e-mails and the report on Bruhn.

On Wednesday, he filed in San Bernardino Superior Court a memorandum of points and authorities in support of his petition.

A hearing on the petition, called a writ of mandate, is scheduled for May 15 in Needles Superior Court.

On March 11, the association filed a public records request with the city seeking all e-mail and text correspondence by City Council members and City Clerk Carolina Padilla from August 2007 to March 11.

The association is investigating possible Brown Act violations by council members and their possible ties to the political action committee Citizens for Colton First, which launched a recall campaign against Mayor Kelly Chastain in the fall, Kershner said.

On April 8, the association received the bulk of the requested e-mails, about 5,000 pages worth, but didn't receive DeLaRosa's questionable e-mails.

DeLaRosa said he is unwilling to provide the e-mails to the police officers' association because he believes the association will use the information to smear his name in the recall campaign.

The police and firefighters' associations are staunch supporters of Chastain and oppose the recall.

DeLaRosa said the police union has had it in for him for years. He cited public meetings he helped organize in recent years where citizens were allowed to voice their concerns and complaints about alleged police misconduct as the reason.

"The police officers' association doesn't want me as mayor. They never even wanted me as a councilman," DeLaRosa said. "They want to dictate what information comes out in the public."

Kershner responded, "We've never publicly, or even privately, come out against Councilman DeLaRosa."

He said it is ironic that DeLaRosa would offer citizens the e-mails in question but deny them to the association.

"We requested his e-mails through the proper channels, did not receive them, and the (police officers' association) is now forced to file a lawsuit to obtain these e-mails," Kershner said.

E-mails have become a political volleyball in the city in recent months.

In February, Gary Grossich, spokesman for Citizens for Colton First, dug up incriminating e-mails containing disparaging remarks by City Manager Daryl Parrish and Assistant City Manager Mark Nuaimi, who referred to Chamber of Commerce employees as "chamber monkeys" and some residents opposing a bike path project as "urban idiots."

Nuaimi and Parrish publicly apologized for the e-mails at the Feb. 5 City Council meeting.

Since then, some say the city has thrown them a curve ball after they requested internal e-mails. The city responded to their requests by indicating city e-mails are destroyed after 30 days and likely unavailable.

Philadelphia Firefighter Who Saved Woman's Life In Hot Water

PHILADELPHIA, PA – When no other emergency units were close enough for a medical rescue, a Philadelphia firefighter took matters into his own hands. He saved a woman's life, but now he is in trouble of his own.

"If this man did not react the way that he did and so quickly, I would not be standing here," Michelle Smith said.

The man Smith is referring to is a lieutenant with Engine #72 in North Philadelphia. The lieutenant is in trouble for actions he took when he responded to Smith's 911 call. Smith was at a friend's house in Logan when she had an asthma attack.

The lieutenant transported Smith to the hospital in a fire truck, which is against department policy.

According to sources, the squad that responded called dispatchers who told them the ambulance was 12-15 minutes away.

However, Smith said that she did not have that much time, saying, "I don't think I had five."

The lieutenant has been taken out of his fire house and transferred to another engine company.

"It's an outrage, I understand rules are rules, in some cases, you have to make exceptions," Smith said.

The captain at Engine #72 has placed the lieutenant's name in for an award for saving Smith's life.

Officials from the Philadelphia Fire Department declined comment. The firefighter's union said they are waiting to see if any disciplinary action will be taken before they comment on the incident.

FBI Clears Miami PD Of Allegations It Alters Crime Statistics

After Seven Years With No Contract, Pennsylvania Police union picks new head

Providence Firefighters Win 10th Straight Pension-Related Arbitration

Overtime Replacement Costs scuttles firefighter demotions In Flint, Michigan

Police Union Wants City Council Member's E-Mails

Philadelphia Firefighter Who Saved Woman's Life In Hot Water