Detectives ink new contract with city

The city of Boston and a police union representing detectives have come to a $22.2 million agreement that doles out a 23% raise over a five-year period and includes “sweeping” reforms similar to those included in a prior patrolmen’s contract.

Mayor Michelle Wu’s office announced the fiveyear retroactive agreement with the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society on Monday, while outlining terms that dish out a 4.7% annual pay increase from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2025.

The 23.3% total increase exceeds the collective pay boost included in the union’s prior four-year agreement, which expired on June 30, 2020.

The mayor chose to highlight the police reforms included in the new agreement, saying that they align with what was agreed to this past December with the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union.

“This historic contract builds on the groundbreaking agreement ratified by the BPPA last year,” Wu said in a statement. “This contract includes the same significant reforms to overtime, paid details, and officer education, plus an additional reform to how court overtime is administered.”

The contract includes a long list of criminal charges — including murder, rape, assault and drug trafficking — that will not be eligible for arbitration as a pathway to overturn discipline or termination issued by the department.

A detective will face discipline without arbitration if they are indicted for, or if a sustained internal affairs finding is issued and upheld by the Boston Police Department, for the defined list of offenses, Wu’s office said.

The new contract also cuts the cancellation time down from 72 to 24 hours, in terms of detectives being entitled to overtime compensation for every hour they would have appeared in court, with a minimum of four hours of pay, had the hearing or proceeding not been canceled within that time frame.

Donald Caisey, president of the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society, said the new agreement “respects and honors the leadership and exemplary investigative police service that the men and women” of that union “provide every day.”

“We look forward to continuing to work to make Boston a safe city for all,” he said in a statement.