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Posted by: dh18

Hub taxpayer$ foot bill for cops in ’burbs, BU
By Michele McPhee
Thursday, April 6, 2006 - Updated: 01:36 AM EST

Even as City Hall says it can’t afford to fully staff the Boston Police Department, recruits from wealthy suburbs and private universities are getting free training at the BPD academy courtesy of Hub taxpayers.
Boston University and the town of Cohasset recently sent their future police officers to the Boston academy without charge, BPD officials said. Records indicate there are many additional examples from other agencies.
“The policy has always been that we don’t charge outside agencies for training,” Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said. “That is the (Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole’s) policy, as well as her predecessors’.”
The department argues that the slots would otherwise be empty, so filling them with outside trainees brings no additional cost to Boston taxpayers.
But that conclusion was challenged yesterday by Jeffrey Conley, executive director of the Boston Finance Commission.
“Empty seats are irrelevant,” he said. “That would be like walking into a class at Harvard that’s not filled and want to take the class for free.”
“There is the expense of running the academy, to pay the instructors,” he added. “That expense ought to be shared by those who benefit from it. The taxpayers of Boston should not be subsidizing BU or anybody else.”
News that the police department is training outside agencies’ cops for free comes at a time when BPD manpower is at its lowest in a decade and crime is soaring.
This month, 14 BPD recruits - including nine minority police prospects - were booted from the academy class that began Monday because the city did not have the money for their salaries had they made it onto the force. The class still includes three future BU cops.
Yesterday, BU spokesman Colin Riley said the school will pay the city back the cost of the eight recruits trained since the last class began in May. That class was the first time in 15 years that BU used the Boston Police Academy to train its officers, Riley said.
Driscoll said the department has no intention of billing BU because the BPD has a long-standing practice of filling empty seats at the academy with cops who often partner with the Boston police.
“You can’t put a price on good will,” Driscoll said. “These are seats that would have otherwise been empty.”
A year ago, the BPD did begin charging certain communities $2,300 per trainee - a tiny fraction of the total cost. City officials have estimated the cost of training police recruits at $50,000 a head.
But because the policy was not uniform, the roughly $48,000 collected so far will be refunded, Driscoll said.
The Middlesex Sheriff’s Office, state environmental cops and the towns of Andover and Weymouth will get their money back.
“The Herald brought to light an uneven policy,” Driscoll said.
“It’s money that has not been spent yet, and will be returned,” she said.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino, meanwhile, wants answers.
“We look forward to Police Commissioner O’Toole’s review of this policy,” said Menino’s spokesman, Seth Gitell

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Posted by: Delta784

Quote:

Originally Posted by dh18 The Middlesex Sheriff’s Office, state environmental cops and the towns of Andover and Weymouth will get their money back.

I know where this thread is going......

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Posted by: BrickCop

An absolute non story, the Herald must be hard up for "Front Page" headlines.

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Posted by: Buford T

Do you think this will jam up the merge with the Municipal Police if these 14 candidates sue for their rightful place in the academy?

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Posted by: pucknut

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delta784 I know where this thread is going......

Yep, here we go again

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