Timothy Matthews began training with the Tucson Police Department in August 2000 after passing the necessary pre-employment physical and psychological examinations. In 2009 while off duty, Matthews passed by an accident involving a car that hit a police officer on a bicycle. Matthews responded to the scene. He later learned the officer had died. Afterward,…
Lodge 7 of the Fraternal Order of Police is the exclusive collective bargaining representative of all sworn personnel below the rank of sergeant employed by the Chicago Police Department. The Policemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois represents sergeants and lieutenants in different bargaining units. On August 25, 2021, the City announced its intention to…
Local 863 of the IAFF and the City of Newton, Massachusetts are parties to a collective bargaining agreement. Within the Fire Department, Station 4 is the designated building for the training division of the Department. The City instructs all firefighters to report to Station 4 when they need their uniforms or equipment fitted. Additionally, all…
In December 2022, an arbitrator held that Oklahoma City violated its contract with FOP Lodge 123 when it unilaterally transferred a bargaining unit member under investigation without good cause and without first negotiating with the FOP. The case began in April 2022, when 20-year veteran of the Oklahoma City Police Department Master Sergeant Wesley Morrison…
The City of Carbondale, Illinois is party to a collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council. Shane Harris, a dispatcher, is in the FOP’s bargaining unit. The City adopted a COVID-19 Vaccination Policy effective September 27, 2021. The Policy states, in part, “The City of Carbondale requires all employees to be…
Dana Harge is a patrol officer for the New York City Police Department. Harge sued his supervisors and NYPD, claiming his supervisors fabricated disciplinary actions against him, subjected him to heightened monitoring and scrutiny, issued him inappropriate “Command Discipline (CD),” and halted his promotional and career advancement because he is black. The federal Second Circuit…
Washington County, Minnesota Sheriff’s Deputy Jerome Lannon died by suicide in 2018. Lannon had a decades-long career as a public safety officer. Over the course of his career as a sheriff’s deputy, he responded to many disturbing incidents, including a double murder, multiple suicides, a child’s sexual assault, and fatal vehicle crashes. He was also…
Police dispatchers for the University of Cincinnati are represented by the Fraternal Order of Police. Section 18.11 of their collective bargaining agreement provides that “in the event that the University closes due to inclement weather or other emergencies, members of the FOP bargaining unit who are required to work because they are designated as essential…
Brian Errington was an officer with the Reading, Pennsylvania Police Department for 15 years. In later years, he got involved in workplace disputes that led him to retire and sue the City for First Amendment retaliation. The first dispute arose in November 2017, when Officer Charles Menges left Errington’s name off the ballot in an…
The City of East Cleveland and Local 500 of the IAFF are parties to a collective bargaining agreement with a minimum staffing clause. In Article 9, Section 1 of the parties’ CBA, the City agreed to maintain “on a daily basis, a minimum Safety Fire Fighting Force of ten on-duty firefighters” and, if “personnel are…
Luis Suarez was two weeks into his three-month probationary period as a newly promoted sergeant in the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office in New Jersey when he lied about being sick so he could attend a wedding after having been denied permission to switch shifts with another officer. Although Suarez, a ten-year officer with an unblemished…
From Rhode Island:Question: Are there any good resources (policies or cases) dealing withthe issue of legalized recreational marijuana and police in terms of any departmentsthat have proposed restrictions and any bargaining that has takenplace that would impact off-duty use? Answer: It’s still early yet, and no nationally reported cases so far. Thebig development has been…
Anthony Copeland, a former firefighter of 26 years, was elected mayor of the City of East Chicago, Indiana in 2010. Shortly after he was elected, Copeland implemented certain cost-cutting measures to address the City’s deficit. One such effort was freezing the salaries and benefits of East Chicago firefighters, including abolishing terminal leave, freezing longevity pay…
Deputy sheriffs in Orange County in California are represented by the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS). The Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) provides retirement benefits for AOCDS members. The County makes employer pension contributions to OCERS and collects employee pension contributions from AOCDS bargaining unit members and remits those funds to OCERS.…
Thomas Swartz was a firefighter working for the Bourne Fire Department in Massachusetts. All members of the Department had an identification card as well as an accountability tag. Both featured a picture of the firefighter. The photographs on the identification cards and accountability tags were inconsistent – some firefighters wore t-shirts in their photographs while…
Steve Jones was a supervisor for the paramedic program within the City of Loma Linda’s Fire Department in California. In January 2014, one of the employees who Jones supervised punched a patient. The employee told Jones about punching the patient. Jones failed to report the incident and when the incident came to light, Jones was…
This is a follow-up to the article Qualified Immunity Shields Employer From Liability For Illegal Dropbox Search in the June 2022 issue of Public Safety Labor News. Steven Bowers was a detective sergeant for the Taylor County Sheriff’s Department in Wisconsin. In February 2017, the Department was working with the television program Cold Justice on…
When the Town of Kingston, Massachusetts lost an arbitration decision and was ordered to reinstate a member of the Kingston Police Superior Officers Union, the Town challenged the decision in the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. In a brief, three-page decision, the Court rejected the Town’s arguments. The Court began by accepting the Town’s basic argument…
William Marx was employed by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for 21 years and was a member of the SWAT team during the last ten years of his employment. In August 2018, Marx was involved in a shooting with an armed suspect who was barricaded inside the bathroom of an apartment for about 14…
Shaina Kirkland served as a patrol officer with the City of Maryville’s police department in Tennessee. While in that role, Kirkland periodically used her Facebook account to criticize the County Sheriff. Kirkland’s supervisors became concerned that her posts would undermine the Department’s relationship with their sister law enforcement agency, so they asked her to stop.…
At times in Public Safety Labor News, we’ll write about a case involving a motion for “summary judgment” or a “motion to dismiss.” A case involving Delaware firefighter Hiram Whatley gives us a great platform to describe the difference between the two motions. Whatley was a Wilmington firefighter for more than two decades. In June…
Jeffrey Layman is a police officer in Peoria, Illinois. On January 10, 2018, the City received a complaint from a local pastor about social media posts made by Layman. One post showed a photo on social of Layman wearing a t-shirt with the word “POLICE” on it, under which were the letters “BDRT” and then…
Cincinnati residents may lodge police misconduct complaints with the City’s Citizen Complaint Authority. The Authority consists of a team of investigators, an executive director appointed by the city manager, and a seven-person board appointed by the mayor. In response to a complaint, the Authority conducts an investigation that usually includes interviews with the relevant officers,…
Lodge 93 of the Fraternal Order of Police represents two collective bargaining units at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in Florida. One is made up of deputies and another of sergeants and corporals. On August 4, 2022, the Sheriff’s Negotiation Team presented a wage proposal to address several concerns raised by Lodge 93 in previous…
Sergeant Cardell Bright worked for the jail in St. James Parish, Louisiana. When Bright was hired in April 2015, he had a medical problem with his bowels, was recovering from rectal surgery, and was diabetic. Bright’s diabetes is sensitive to stress, which causes low blood sugar and, ultimately diarrhea. When Bright experiences diarrhea, his rectum…
