Category: Recent Developments

PHOENIX, AZ — Phoenix police officers will get a raise after agreeing to increased accountability measures in the police union’s contract.  The Phoenix City Council approved the new Phoenix Law Enforcement Association contract Wednesday over the objection of activists who opposed any raise for Phoenix officers.   The contract approved by the council includes a handful of changes to previous police union contracts that could lessen union influence during disciplinary investigations and…

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DENVER, CO — Denver City Council approved a one-year contract Monday night with the union representing sheriff’s deputies, effectively freezing salaries and cutting other benefits for the year that’s already well underway. The newly approved contract means deputies will not receive raises this year, Department of Public Safety’s Director of Communications Kelli Christensen said. It also temporarily suspends uniform allowances, premium holiday pay and benefits for seven holidays and…

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NEW YORK, NY — When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took office in 2014, every municipal collective bargaining agreement had expired, and union leaders were demanding $7 billion in retroactive pay. Though only one municipal union had endorsed him during the primary, de Blasio was seen as a friend of organized labor and, five months after taking office, the mayor reached a nine-year $5.5 billion contract with…

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NEW ORLEANS, LA — Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration has reinstated paid overtime for public safety departments, the latest sign of recovery for a municipal government that took a fiscal beating amid coronavirus restrictions. The New Orleans Police Department and New Orleans Fire Department will see a collective $7.2 million in overtime pay through the rest of this year after having gone without for much of the pandemic, Cantrell and public safety leaders said at a…

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MORGANTOWN, WV — Firefighters in West Virginia’s Morgantown say the city manager lowered their pay in retaliation for their refusal to accept a settlement in a separate dispute, although the city says it is just making the firefighters play by the rules. The new dispute involves the firefighters’ shift differential pay — a small pay boost when they work the afternoon or midnight shifts, The Dominion Post reported. The pay…

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The head of the Capitol Police union pushed Congress on Sunday to bolster security after a second attack at the U.S. Capitol complex this year left another officer dead, warning of a possible thinning of the department’s ranks. Gus Papathanasiou, chairman of the U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee, said in a statement that the department is 233 officers below its authorized level of more than 2,000. “We are struggling…

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JERSEY CITY, NJ — The president of Jersey City’s largest municipal employees’ union criticized the city’s response to a coronavirus outbreak that left 18 Jersey City police and fire dispatchers out sick from work and one in the hospital. Julio Cordero Jr., the president of the Jersey City Public Employees Union Local 246, said the city failed to respond quickly and thoroughly to an outbreak this month at the…

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SAN DIEGO  —   A San Diego Police Department internal investigation has concluded that an officer posted online an “offensive” photo of a memorial for a man the officer and a partner fatally shot in late June. The photo, which was posted on Instagram, showed the memorial for 25-year-old Leonardo Ibarra, with a series of emojis, including faces laughing and crying out tears, over the image, according to a document…

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — They risk their lives to serve and protect. But the president of Palm Beach County’s law enforcement union worries with Florida opening up COVID-19 vaccine access to anyone 18 and older on April 5, law enforcement officers will have to compete with everyone else to get inoculated against coronavirus. “We go to houses, we go to car crashes (and) we go to robberies or…

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HARTFORD — Hartford continues to lose newer police officers to neighboring communities and struggle with low morale on the force six months after those issues were spelled out in an independent study of the department, a recent memo shows. Those were the conclusions of a focus group of patrol officers, something the department formed at the recommendation of criminal justice researchers who studied the department’s climate in 2019 and…

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As staff continue to work toward full recovery from a digital attack on city computer systems, the local firefighters union has made public its concerns about payroll problems that resulted from it. TEXARKANA, Texas — As staff continue to work toward full recovery from a digital attack on city computer systems, the local firefighters union has made public its concerns about payroll problems that resulted from it. The attack…

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WATERBURY | Today, the Vermont State Police became the first statewide law enforcement agency in the country to sign on to the 30×30 Pledge — a series of low- and no-cost actions that police agencies can take to improve the representation and experiences of women in law enforcement. The March 25 actions will help police agencies assess the current state of a department regarding gender equity; identify factors that…

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Police deserve a stronger work-life balance. That, in a sense, is the mission from supporters of a new bill that’s already passed the Missouri State Senate. The measure would end Kansas City, Missouri’s residency requirement for officers on the police force. The rule that KCPD officers must live within city limits dates back generations. The Kansas City Police Department employs roughly 1,400 officers. Both sides…

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WZTV) — FOX 17 News is investigating a Murfreesboro firefighter in trouble for a Facebook post he made Tuesday night. Murfreesboro Fire and Rescue became aware of a post about the eight Asian women shot and killed at an Atlanta spa, which was made by Joe Pennington. He’s an engineer that’s been with the department since 2004. In the now-deleted post, Pennington wrote “We lowered the flags for a…

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 A bill that would ban Cedar Falls’ combined fire and police departments passed the Iowa House and awaits action in the Senate. House File 683, which passed the House 86-7 earlier this month, broadly allows cities, townships and counties to establish emergency response districts for fire protection. But tucked away in the middle of a section on municipal fire protection was the following sentence: “… A city in which an institution…

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BELOIT — Efforts remain ongoing to recruit more people of color to the Beloit police and fire departments, as both chiefs gave an update to the Police and Fire Commission on Monday. Commissioner Dennis Murphy requested an update from both departments on their recruiting efforts to make both departments representative of Beloit’s diversity. In the fire department, Fire Chief Dan Pease said COVID-19 had greatly impacted the department’s Explorer…

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QUINCY, Mass. — 5 Investigates has uncovered a controversial policing perk costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. The money is meant for officers working the night shift, but after digging through the data our investigation found many police officers in one city are pocketing thousands in extra night pay even though they are working days. That extra pay is known as night differential and it is…

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Local 2881, a union that represents hundreds of Cal Fire firefighters up and down the state, has filed a workplace complaint with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal/OSHA. The complaint alleges that firefighters in Riverside County have become overworked, and as a result, have experienced exhaustion that has extended beyond work for some affected. “We’re at that breaking point and it does no service…

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — Currently, $1.9 trillion is making its way across the country thanks to the American Rescue Plan, and some of that money may be able to help the Springfield Fire Department (SFD). SFD is currently facing a $1.4 million budget cut within the City of Springfield’s upcoming fiscal budget. Springfield Fire Chief Brandon Blough has previously said that staff layoffs are possible due to the cuts. Both Mayor…

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The union representing Massachusetts state troopers is accusing the State Police of breaking state and federal labor law by intentionally miscalculating what qualifies as the officers’ regular pay and, it argues, costing rank-and-file members millions a year in overtime pay. The State Police Association of Massachusetts, the powerful 1,900-member union, is seeking at least $18 million in back pay and damages in a lawsuit filed Friday in Suffolk Superior…

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The Capitol Police engaged in an unfair labor practice when it unilaterally suspended the union’s collective bargaining agreement as the coronavirus pandemic began last March, according to a decision by an Office of Congressional Workplace Rights hearing officer. The hearing officer, Bruce D. Rosenstein, found that when the Capitol Police suspended the collective bargaining agreement on March 19 and 20, 2020 , the department “abused its discretion in not…

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Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a suspended senior correctional police officer at Northern State Prison was indicted today on charges including official misconduct for falsifying a New Jersey Department of Corrections record to conceal his membership in an outlaw motorcycle gang. The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) today obtained a state grand jury indictment charging Ruben Morales, aka “Moe,” “Moe Cap,” “Capo,” 42, of Orange, with…

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SAGINAW, MI — Several Saginaw police officers have filed a lawsuit against the city they work in and their own union, alleging a contract change is forcing them to work years longer before they can retire with full health care coverage. Attorney Victor J. Mastromarco Jr. on Feb. 9 filed the lawsuit in Saginaw County Circuit Court on behalf of current officers Bradley Holp, 37; Roger Pate, 45; Matthew…

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The union that represents Cal Fire firefighters in the Riverside County Unit has filed a workplace-safety complaint with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, alleging that unusual levels of physical fatigue and mental stress have set in because of excessive overtime worked due to inadequate staffing. Even during normal times, state firefighters are required to work significant amounts of overtime, especially during the height of fire…

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