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Main Page Big-city incentive leaves local police forces short
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: kwflatbed

By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff | July 22, 2007

Boston's strategy of luring police hires from suburban departments has left a dozen area communities scrambling to fill positions. The exodus occurs at a time when towns are already short-staffed and facing budget problems.
"Any time you have a loss of an officer, you feel its ripple effect," said Walpole Deputy Police Chief Scott Bushway.
Of the 54 officers who joined Boston's police academy two weeks ago, at least 19 were from cities and towns south of Boston.
Bushway and several police chiefs from throughout the region said Boston hand picked some of the area's best officers and offered them jobs. Most local chiefs felt they could not in good conscience thwart the officers' ambitions to work for a big-city department, so they approved the transfers, knowing it would leave them short of staff during the summer, when crime typically goes up. The remaining officers have been forced to work overtime to close the gap.
"Any time we're down staff, it will impact the operations of the department," said Cohasset Police Chief James Hussey.
Among the towns losing officers in Boston's hiring sweep are Abington, Cohasset, Dedham, Easton, Hingham, Hull, Milton, Norwell, Norwood, Quincy, Randolph, and Walpole.
Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis used the officer transfer process, said to be the biggest in state history, as a way to quickly put officers in some of Boston's most violent neighborhoods without having to spend the time hiring and training new officers. The only requirement for the officers transferring to Boston is that they live in the city.
Two of those officers were from Randolph, where the need for skilled police rivals that of Boston. Randolph's murder rate is the highest it has been in more than a decade. Less than a month ago, two people were killed there in one week. In the last three years, there have been four murders. In contrast, there were only three murders in town from 1992 to 2005.
Boston recruited the top officers in the area, say chiefs who lost staff. In Randolph, that meant losing one who was on the SWAT team and on the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council, a regional consortium. It also meant the loss of the town's top training officer.
"These guys were premium," said Randolph's chief, Paul Porter. "They're taking the cream of the crop."
Police chiefs said it could take a year to fill the positions. New officers must be recruited from a civil-service list, and then the chiefs must conduct background checks, hire the officers, and train them.
The chiefs said they are considering transferring in officers from even smaller communities -- similar to what Boston has done -- to avoid the training and recruiting expenses. But they acknowledge the irony of doing so.
"It's the big fish eating the littler fish, because I'm going to do the same thing," said Porter. "We have to provide street protection -- power on the street, officers on the street."
Milton lost three officers to Boston. In addition, two officers recently left the department for jobs in other fields of law enforcement, and then took the Boston job.
Acting Milton Police Chief Paul T. Nolan said his department's staffing level, at 46 officers, is at the lowest level in his 27 years on the force. A fully staffed department would have 55 officers. Small towns can't compete when officers want to go to the big city, he said. "The problem for a South Shore chief is good guys but small opportunities."
Norwood and Abington each lost two police officers during the transfer process, as did Hingham.
In Easton, the loss of one officer strained a department that already had limited resources.
"We have difficulty in town," Easton Police Chief Thomas Kominsky said. He said his town's problems can't compare to Boston, "but we have our share for a suburban community.
"And when we lose an officer like that, it's a hit."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/art..._forces_short/

Posted by: Killjoy

Doesn't surprise me...its a pay-now or pay-later situation. Boston wants to save money by hiring experienced officers, but those officers have to come from somewhere. If Boston doesn't pay for the initial training, then the smaller cities and towns take the hit... sh*t rolls downhill. Eventually the smaller cities and towns are going to beg the state for more money to hire officers...so we all end up footing the bill in the end.

Posted by: pahapoika

i bet most of these kids wanted Boston to begin with , but the crazy hiring process the city has in place prevents allot of good people from getting hired.

too bad tommy boy can't buy a clue and hire these guys in the first place instead of hanging on to a flawed system

Posted by: mikemac64

If some of the nutjobs that run these small towns ought to take this as a wake up call. I am not talking about Police commanders/managers but town managers and elected bodies. Lowell posted that transfer ad only a few weeks after Boston. I bet you will see more of this and soon.

Posted by: OutOfManyOne

Big whinning chiefs, if it was such a BIG problem why did they sign the transfer papers? And what happens when BPD will hire more officers in the future and decide to it through laterals again. Lowell PD followed their footsteps and I bet more and more PDs will also. I could care less about the opportunities, show me the money. It's up to these towns to remain competitive and retain officers by offering them great benefits,pay and incentives.

P.S. Look at MSP, QUincy,Cambridge, I don't see officers jumping ship somewhere else from those PDs. Even if they are not happy, $$$ keeps them there.

Posted by: LA Copper

Quote:

Originally Posted by OutOfManyOne

Big whinning chiefs, if it was such a BIG problem why did they sign the transfer papers? And what happens when BPD will hire more officers in the future and decide to it through laterals again. Lowell PD followed their footsteps and I bet more and more PDs will also. I could care less about the opportunities, show me the money. It's up to these towns to remain competitive and retain officers by offering them great benefits,pay and incentives.

P.S. Look at MSP, QUincy,Cambridge, I don't see officers jumping ship somewhere else from those PDs. Even if they are not happy, $$$ keeps them there.

"Show me the money."
What happened to being a police officer because we want to help people? Because it's a good job and we like what we do? Because it's exciting and we take great satisfaction in taking dirtbags off the street before they victimize innocent people. Because people look up to us and respect us (supposedly).

If its just a lot of money you want then maybe you're in the wrong profession.

Posted by: adroitcuffs

Quote:

Originally Posted by LA Copper

Amen to that, LA Copper! I had several folks I know on LAPD try repeatedly to get me to lateral over. The biggest reason they said I should come over was for the $$$. At the time, it would've meant about $1,000.00 more a month. Bottom-line was I knew I didn't want to live anywhere near the city and definitely didn't want to make that commute! Yes, salaries should be reasonable but no matter what the pay, you can live within your means and keep your sanity. Ultimately, you have to have a passion for what you do, no matter your job title.

Posted by: mikemac64

Quote:

Originally Posted by LA Copper

Because we need to pay our bills. In too many cases, not all, but too many, all the Town Managers/Mayors/Chief's care about is cutting OT, etc. So the extra income you need to live a modest existence in Massachusetts is not there. Massachusetts, like California, is an expensive place to live.

In many towns it is almost a sport among departments heads to see how much money they turn back to the towns. That money comes from OT/Training/etc. But I can guess we can ask the Randolph Fire Chief how that little game is working out.

But there is also diversity of assignments, potential for promotion, or at least the opportunity for these things.

Posted by: Delta784

Further proof that being a police chief does not necessarily prove intelligence. If they're short-handed already, why the hell did they sign the lateral transfer papers??

Posted by: LA Copper

I agree it would be nice to make a good paycheck at this job, God knows we deserve it for the things we see and do, especially when compared to the kind of money that celebrities make to play pretend and athletes make to play a game. In society, what we do, what firefighters do, and what teachers do, is a heckuva lot more important than any movie or sport....

But, I think we all knew that we weren't gonna get rich by going into law enforcement, that's just a fact of life. If you can get it in your contract, more power to ya. I don't like seeing zeros in our contract negotiations either.

I would have thought that most of the guys "jumping ship" to work in Boston is because they're gonna have the opporunity to see a lot more "action" than they would have in their local small town, not just because they're gonna be shown a lot more money. Although more money is certainly a good thing.

Posted by: THE RP

I don't think that anyone who talks about the money issue forgets about why they took this job. Why they worked hard to become a true professional police officer. Why they go out and do this job for real. But what is left after awhile? Especially these days. Society no longer has the same respect for us. Cities and towns no longer consider us as attributes. We have management who look out for themselves. We have the media who uses us for fodder. This has created a mercenary mentality that is contagious because that is the only thing we have left. It boils down to human nature and survival of the fittest. You stand by and watch people getting rich for acts that have absolutely no redeeming qualities towards society and it causes you to eventually say...What I do means something, I know it and it is worth X...If you don't want to compensate me for X, I will find someone somewhere who does...Ultimately if you are a true pro in this business eventually you can find someone who wants to compensate you for it....Free agency in its basic form. Unfortunately society and municipalities want a free ride on our backs more and more and thats why we all have to fight every day for every dime we have coming to us. Not like we are going to get rich but it ends up being a matter of principal also..IMO There is nobody on the street right this minute that does not deserve every dime he or she gets. In fact they deserve double and should be fighting for that because the sacrifices they make and the price that they pay and whether you like it or not, in the world today, worth is equated to dollars...It should also be noted that when I got into this business fifteen years ago I looked at things a whole different way but now it's vastly different.

The trick is to keep the balance and not forgetting why you got into this line of work. If you become consumed and bitter about the money issue, you're screwed and worthless to the job, your coworkers and every value and ethos of the profession. Thats where it needs to end. Before it gets to that point.

How many of you out there have said at least once to yourself or someone else? "Do you believe they pay me for this?" It's still the best job in the world. At least for most of us.

Posted by: SinePari

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE RP

How many of you out there have said at least once to yourself or someone else? "Do you believe they pay me for this?" It's still the best job in the world. At least for most of us.

+1

I've done a lot WORSE jobs, for a lot LESS money.

Posted by: LA Copper

Very well said RP, I quite agree.

Posted by: MPD119

Better pay, more benefits, job advancement, stronger union, more/better training, more OTs/details, more specialized units, better equitments. My PD didn't have "assigned take home" portable radios until 5 years ago. I wish I could transfer to Boston PD. Officers who left Milton, Quincy, Waltham, I don't mind taking their spots...lol

Posted by: mikemac64

Quote:

Originally Posted by MPD119

Officers who left Milton, Quincy, Waltham, I don't mind taking their spots...lol

I forgot, Milton had a jobfile posting about 10 seconds after the laterals started in Boston. They beat Lowell by 12 seconds!

Posted by: Buford T

Good luck to all that transferred to Boston, hope it is all you wished for. As for the smaller communities, there are still many qualified officers that for one reason or another did not look into the lateral option. It will be interesting to see how many of these new recruits last beyond 5 years in the big city. Is the grass is always greener???

Posted by: MPD119

How many lateral transfers BPD took? Anyone knows?

Posted by: ryan57

Quote:

Originally Posted by OutOfManyOne

You forgot to mention the MBTA Transit Police in your list of sought after places to go........hahahaha.....everyone likes trains and buses!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MPD119

How many lateral transfers BPD took? Anyone knows?

Posted by: Dragnet

If Boston simply opened up the test to everyone and not limit the pool to just city residents then many of their hiring problems wouldn't exist. Opening it up to everyone like LAPD and NYPD makes for a better pool of candidates. I will never understand why this state does things the ways they do. If you were a hospital administrator would you limit your pool of new doctors to those who live in your city or would you want to recruit from all over to get the best candidate? Why isn't this a no brainer??? If the residency thing is such a big deal then require it after hiring that top notch candidate.

Posted by: SinePari

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragnet

If Boston simply opened up the test to everyone and not limit the pool to just city residents then many of their hiring problems wouldn't exist. Opening it up to everyone like LAPD and NYPD makes for a better pool of candidates. I will never understand why this state does things the ways they do. If you were a hospital administrator would you limit your pool of new doctors to those who live in your city or would you want to recruit from all over to get the best candidate? Why isn't this a no brainer??? If the residency thing is such a big deal then require it after hiring that top notch candidate.

Because plain and simply, it will turn into a department full of suburban white boys, and that does not reflect the diversity of the city. Their philosophy is why hire people who want to work there but do not live there. LA has to hire some 1000 recruits and NY over 2000 per year. Not quite the scale of Boston.

Posted by: Rocco39

Quote:

Originally Posted by SinePari

That's ridiculous. So what your saying is because LA and New York are bigger they have no choice but to hire from beyond their borders to fill vacancies. Hmm, well then based on that logic, Boston should be able to attract all the qualified recruits they need from within the city limits right? BUT as we've seen, they are recruiting from the burbs, just in a underhanded way that drains other towns of already short resources. No, they need to cast a wider net and go after the "white boys" from the suburbs as well as the ladies, latinos, african american's and any others who are intelligent and capable of passing the CS exams and meeting the requirements. OR they can just head over to Dudley street or drop by Simco's on a Saturday night and start handing out badges. Now that's community policing.

Posted by: OutOfManyOne

BPD recruited some of the best candidates, cream of the crop from other PDs. Not only are these officers trained, but they are also college educated and they also have lots of extra training that they received from their respective prior agencies which would have cost BPD tens of thousands of dollars. It was a win-lose for BPD and other PDs. They saved a shitload of $$ and gues what, they will do it again. I hear another round soon.

Let's see the cost saving. BPD academy I believe is 28 weeks long at $700 a week for 70 candidates, just salaries and not medical insurance or other benefits cost was $1.37 million dollars. Add at least $2500 for each candidate for equipment and brings it up another $175,000 for uniforms and equipment, granted some of this was already spent by hiring them. What about staff instructors at the academy, OT and more OT. In total I wouldn't be surprised if these guys saved upwards of $2.5 million dollars, shorter field training, don't have to wait 28 weeks for them to hit the streets, it's a no brainer. Don't be surprised if this is going to happen more and more, same thing as California and other parts of the country where PDs steal other officers from other PDs.

Posted by: pahapoika

Because plain and simply, it will turn into a department full of suburban white boys,

motivated suburban white boys , the sons of policemen. people who actually WANT to do the job.

Posted by: Macop

The Boston Police Academy can be upward of 30 somethig weeks. From what I understand there is no set limit on how long it can go. But what the hell do I know, I only heard that.

Posted by: SinePari

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocco39

My argument is the city council is thinking three steps ahead. I'm guessing they're thinking about saving $$$ right now, but some nerd city attorney is thinking about the Rodney King image. A bunch of out-of-towners, working in the 'hood. Follow my logic? Lay off the racial/CS crap...we've been up and down that road for years. Think like the enemy (city council). You guys are agreeing with yourselves but are failing to see the litaphobia that comes with change.

Posted by: Deuce

Quote:

Originally Posted by SinePari

litaphobia

Bigg werd fansee shmansee kalledge boy....

Posted by: SinePari

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deuce

Bigg werd fansee shmansee kalledge boy....

I'm 39 y/o and still sitting in classes with 18 year olds...not a bad thing btw

My 16 month old son has a t-shirt that just says "college" ala John Belushi...classic

Posted by: Dragnet

Again, require residency after hiring the quality candidate. The new candidate would understand that they will now be living in Boston. Did anyone think that the values a "suburban white boy" has could be beneficial to a youngster in the ghetto? Last time I checked most inner city ghetto's crime rates (murder etc) are a lot hire than the "suburbs". Maybe the current thought process of hiring people "from the city" only isn't the best way of doing things afterall. PS: I know of a BPD Sgt (white male) who has adopted a bunch of minority children from tough situations. Several of these kids are either in college or are college bound. I tip my hat to this "white boy" (I am not sure if he is from the suburbs originally). What a great roll model he is huh?

Posted by: sdb29

"litaphobia"

OK- I'll bite. What's litaphobia? Is that the one that the creme makes the itching go away?

Posted by: kwflatbed

What's litaphobia? Google search results:

Lita:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/litaphobia/

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