Wu announces accord with Boston police detectives union
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced Monday that a Boston police detectives union has ratified a new five-year collective bargaining agreement with her administration, in a deal that mirrors a previous pact reached with another police labor group that included significant reforms to discipline.
The accord with the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society would apply retroactively from the summer of 2020 and expire in the summer of 2025. Wu’s office estimates it would cost $22.2 million, or an increase of 23 percent over the entire period.
Similar to an agreement reached with the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association late last year, the contract with the detectives’ union would give the city the ability to fire officers accused of serious offenses, such as murder and rape, and bar them from appealing those dismissals through arbitration.
Previously, a police officer facing any disciplinary matter could seek arbitration, a process sometimes used to overturn disciplinary orders. Last year, city officials said five members of the department’s active sworn officers were fired only to be rehired through arbitration.
“This historic contract builds on the groundbreaking agreement ratified by the BPPA late last year,” said Wu 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.”
Donald Caisey, president of the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society, said the agreement “respects and honors the leadership and exemplary investigative police service that the men and women of the Detectives Society provide every day.”
“We look forward to continuing to work to make Boston a safe city for all,” he said in a statement.
Police Commissioner Michael Cox said Monday he was pleased the city was able to reach an agreement with another Boston police union.
“Once again, our officers have shown leadership in agreeing to implement important reforms that will continue to reinforce trust with those we serve,” he said in a statement. “Through this agreement, the Detectives have shown their commitment to elevating the standards of transparency and accountability expected of the Boston Police Department.”
The detectives society has 265 members, according to the Wu administration, making it much smaller than the patrolmen’s group, which has 1,500plus members. The latter’s contract was met with a mostly positive response from experts and reform advocates who applauded it as a win for police accountability, although there were critics who suggested it did not go far enough.
As in the earlier deal with the patrolmen, about 30 crimes would now not be eligible for arbitration, if a detective is indicted for any of them or if they feature in a sustained internal department finding. They include murder, rape, kidnapping, drug trafficking, human trafficking, armed robbery, and hate crimes.
Disciplinary measures related to other allegations of misconduct, such as use of excessive force, would still be subject to arbitration.
The contract with the detectives would also change the paid detail system for its members, following a similar reform reached with the patrolmen. Specifically, if details go unfilled by police officers, they may be offered first to Boston police retirees, Boston Housing Authority officers, and university or college officers, then municipal officers and civilian contract personnel. About 40 percent of details go unfilled in the city, according to the Wu administration. Previously, Boston police officers were the only eligible personnel to perform paid details for events or construction sites that involve traffic disruption on city roadways.
The deal would also end the practice of allowing officers who finish a detail early to start a second one, preventing officers from collecting double pay for the same period of time. It also aims to streamline the administration of the detail system.
The contract also calls for an independent medical examiner to settle disagreements between an officer’s doctor and the department’s doctor regarding an individual’s ability to return to work.
Speaking during an appearance on WBUR on Monday, Wu said the agreement with the detectives society includes an additional reform not featured in the patrolmen’s contract, one that aims to tighten the administration of court-related overtime.
According to Wu’s office, Boston police detectives who attend court on behalf of the department are entitled to overtime pay. In the past, if a court proceeding was canceled within 72 hours of its scheduled date, detectives could claim every hour they were slated to be in court, mandated at a minimum of four hours of pay.
The new contract reduces the cancellation window from 72 hours to 24 hours, “marking a significant reform that will reduce the amount of mandatory overtime paid out to officers,” according to a press release from the Wu administration.
On WBUR, Wu said the new deal will reinforce trust and benefit the health and well-being of police officers. She called BPD “the best police force in the country.”
“It’s really exciting news,” she said.
The city had been in collective bargaining with the detectives society for almost a yearand-a-half, meeting more than a dozen times. The matter now heads to the City Council, which can approve or reject funding the agreement. Wu’s administration plans to file the proposal with the council next week. If it is approved, it would leave two Boston police unions without a contract: the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation and the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society, Superior Officers Unit, according to city authorities.