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Main Page Town blocks police moves
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: alphadog1

TEWKSBURY -- A recent decision to fill vacancies on Boston's police force by recruiting officers from other departments has sent shock waves through this town, more than 20 miles away from the state capital.

Town Manager David Cressman was recently presented with five police transfer requests -- an unheard-of number for the Tewksbury Police Department, which has only seen two transfers over the last 20 years.

"This is not a normal occurrence," Cressman noted last week. "It's a trickle-down effect that can be traced right back to (Police Commissioner) Ed Davis' decision to allow transfers into Boston. Now that Boston has filled their ranks, you are seeing a domino effect in other communities." The hires, known as lateral transfers, allowed the Boston Police Department to quickly fill positions without having to provide extensive training to new recruits. Boston acquired more than 50 officers that way.

Many of the Tewksbury officers who recently applied for a transfer were eyeing the Lowell Police Department, which lost five officers to Boston and is now, in turn, seeking to fill these positions through lateral transfers.

Cressman noted that he had little choice but to deny all of Tewksbury's five requested transfers, since they would have led to a 19 percent loss in the town's 54-member police force by next spring.

The department is already tackling three unexpected departures -- Lt. Dennis Peterson's retirement, Officer David Godin's transfer to Boston and Officer Raymond Lafortune's retirement forced by a long-term disability -- in addition to two expected vacancies.

"Replacing 10 percent of your work force in a short period of time already is difficult," Cressman said. "We will probably replace Officer Godin using the Civil Service's intermittent (hiring) list, but the rest will have to wait at least until September or October."

Cressman noted that he does not expect this to be the last of the Police Department's staffing woes. Two positions have already been flagged for potential vacancies in the near future, because of disabilities or other issues.
A handful of other officers have also indicated their willingness to retire in the next two to three years, because of a clause in their most recent contracts that calls for a 3.5 percent raise to be applied three years before the officers' retirement.

Posted by: TopCop24

In all due respect Tewskbury's town manager is a boob. If the chief signs off of the transfer requests let them move on.

Posted by: Irish Wampanoag

The officers are sick of driving those black ugly cruisers, that why they are looking to transfer. I did some training with them years ago seem like a good department.

Posted by: Motorcop

The Chief is a tyrant. He travels around the state lecturing other chiefs how to screw the officers. He has installed GPS systems in all the cruisers. No wonder so many want to leave.

Posted by: SGT_GRUNT_USMC

If they want to go to a bigger and better agency like the Boston Police Department where there's more opportunities and more action than so be it.

Posted by: bluesteel0174

Now there's another intelligent decision!!! Let's keep 5 disgruntled Officers on the road in our town. I don't know why the Brass always takes it so personal when Officers want to move on. Did anyone stop them from furthering their careers? Sounds like a possible law suit on the horizon.

Posted by: pahapoika

here's a scenario , a young man tries to get hired in Boston , but can't because of residency or affirmative action requirements.

goes to a town outside of Boston to become a police officer and now can transfer to the same city that turned him away a few years ago.

is this state insane or what ?

Sounds like a possible law suit on the horizon.

hope those cops can make it here because the city needs the help.

Posted by: OutOfManyOne

The law has to be changed so the Chiefs and town managers have no say when someone wants to leave instead of holding officers as hostages on their PDs.

Posted by: THE RP

One guy went to Boston, two wanted to go to Arlington and three wanted to go to Lowell. I wonder why everyone wants to leave? Maybe its the chief, who was handpicked by the town manager? The same town manager who is saying he's the one blocking the transfers. Seems interesting since the town manager's handpicked chief keeps getting his ass handed to him in civil service hearings because he screws with his people. Does anyone see the spin here other than me? The town manager couldn't even put enough thought into the situation to lay it out to the press properly. Blame it all on Boston? What a joke.

You just ruined five good young cops. If you ran a job that people wanted to come to every day, maybe you wouldn't have as many wanting to leave. Since you are so profound in your leadership maybe you should have plans in place to hire in a quicker manner so you can let people exercise their freedom to make a living somewhere other than treating them like indentured servants.

I found out one of the true shames is that one of the guys wanting to go to Lowell would have been a legacy there. For those of you who don't know what that is. It's one of the proudest traditions of this profession where someone's son or daughter joins them on the same job. Stopping that is a friggin disgrace.

Great cops in that PD just a huge ego running the place.

Posted by: alphadog1

Chief's stance on transfers puts him in a tough spot
The Lowell Sun
Article Last Updated: 08/17/2007 11:38:12 AM EDT

Tewksbury Police Chief Alfred Donovan finds himself "between a rock and a hard place." Maybe because that's where he put himself.

Donovan recently put the kibosh on five of his officers who requested lateral transfers to other police departments.
A lateral transfer is when an officer leaves one department for another, whether it be for better pay, increased job security or because he lives in the community to which he's transferring. It's great for the receiving department, which gets an officer it doesn't have to train, but not so great for the department the officer leaves.

The five Tewksbury officers were seeking transfers to Lowell, Arlington and Cambridge -- bigger departments all, with bigger paychecks, too.

The funny thing in this case, though, is that four of the five officers who requested transfers were on the chopping block earlier in the summer when Tewksbury faced a catastrophic $3.3 million budget deficit.
Can you blame them for wanting to get out of Dodge? The fact that they'll be the first four guys on the firing line in next summer's blockbuster sequel -- The Budget That Ate Tewksbury II -- is enough to make them dash for their computers to update their resumes.

So let's get this straight. Donovan was willing to let those four officers go when it was his decision to lay them off.

But now that those officers feel like they want a job that might be a bit more secure than their positions in Tewksbury, Donovan will do anything to hang on to them. Gee, thanks, boss. Good to know we're needed so badly.

On the other hand, you can't fault Donovan for not wanting the officers to go. He claims that will leave the town woefully underpoliced, and that it could take up to a year for Tewksbury to get back up to speed.
But it's disingenuous for him to use the officers as pawns in a budget chess game one day, then claim the next day that they're kings without whom the department can't function.

The Boston Police Department, with former Lowell Police Superintendent Ed Davis now at the helm, started the ball rolling by scooping up 50 officers from other communities' department through lateral transfers.

A domino effect has left the departments from which those officers defected accepting transfers from still other departments.
Lateral transfers are, understandably, not a chief's best friend. One police department pays to train a young officer, only to see him leave for pastures made greener by a bump in pay.

But such transfers are a part of life. People leave jobs all the time for better positions elsewhere. Apparently, police officers don't have that luxury.

Most every living, breathing human being -- police officer or not -- would rather be making more money, everything else being equal. And given the choice, most people would rather work in a position that is more stable and less likely to be cut next time there's a huge budget deficit.

A rock and a hard place? Yup.

The rock is a decimated department. The hard place is a rank-and-file upset with a chief who won't allow his officers to better themselves. Tough choice. But did Donovan make the right one?

Posted by: mikemac64

If the receiving town really wants them, they can take them without going through the transfer process. The quit/rehire system works with little risk, as long as the receving department does not change their mind in the 1 day you are out of the system.

All it requires is the receiving Chief to fill out a different form.

Posted by: pahapoika

doesn't New Hampshire have people sign a 2 year contract to keep Mass. residents from taking flight too soon after the academy ?

seems like that would be a fair compromise here as well

Posted by: 7MPOC

Quote:

Originally Posted by pahapoika

doesn't New Hampshire have people sign a 2 year contract to keep Mass. residents from taking flight too soon after the academy ?

seems like that would be a fair compromise here as well

If I remember correctly, Lincoln freed the slaves. As someone stated in an earlier post the quit/rehire system works just fine. You cannot keep someone who is intent on leaving.

Posted by: alphadog1

'We can't let them leave' Tewksbury officers told they cannot transfer
departments

By Alexandra Mayer-Hohdahl, amayer-hohdahl@lowellsun.com
Article Last Updated: 08/16/2007 11:42:50 AM EDT

TEWKSBURY -- As officers reel from the news that five of their colleagues were denied the opportunity to transfer to other police departments this month, Chief Alfred Donovan is maintaining that the rebuff was unavoidable.

"It would be fiscally irresponsible for me or the town manager to let these guys go," Donovan explained this week. "We couldn't continue to provide the same level of service."

Officials have said that five police transfer requests is unheard of in Tewksbury, which has seen only two transfers during the past 20 years. The sudden increase came on the heels of the Boston Police Department's decision to open itself up to so-called lateral transfers.

These hires from other departments allowed the Boston police force to quickly fill positions without having to provide extensive training to new recruits. Boston acquired more than 50 officers that way, leaving many departments with no choice but to fill their ranks with lateral transfers as well.

"It's a cost-effective and efficient way to get new employees, but the perception is that you're robbing another department," Donovan said.

The five Tewksbury officers were seeking to transfer to Lowell, Arlington and Cambridge, some of which could have offered them an opportunity to work in larger departments and earn more money.

But Donovan also noted that four of the five officers seeking the transfers had received preliminary layoff notices in June as Tewksbury faced a $3.3 million deficit.

"They made it by the skin of their teeth this year and they've heard that the (fiscal) future looks bad, but we can't let them leave," he said. "It has created frustration here, but we're caught between a rock and a hard place."
The department is already tackling three unexpected vacancies in addition to two looming retirements. These departures will represent 9 percent of Tewksbury's police force.

It would traditionally take eight to 12 months to fill these vacancies by choosing new recruits from the Civil Service list, letting them attend a 22-week police academy and spend another eight to 12 weeks in field training.
The process could be drawn out even longer, since many of the Tewksbury police retirees will have collected significant vacation and sick time, which needs to be paid off before their salaries can be invested into a new officer.
Adding another five departures into the mix before officers are chosen to fill the initial five vacancies would leave the already strained department seriously crippled, Donovan said.

"The manpower shortage that would be created would significantly effect (sic) police coverage and the safety of the citizens of this community," Donovan added on the tewksburyissues.org chat board yesterday.
Donovan said he is studying different options to speed up the process of finding replacements and getting them on the road as he works on formulating a staffing plan for the Police Department.

Among them would be to recruit fully trained officers who have been laid off from other departments. Donovan said using lateral transfers is not high on his list of options.

"It would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul again," he said

Posted by: adroitcuffs

Quote:

Originally Posted by alphadog1

But Donovan also noted that four of the five officers seeking the transfers had received preliminary layoff notices in June as Tewksbury faced a $3.3 million deficit.

So you give your officer's "preliminary layoff notices" and then don't expect them to look elsewhere for employment?? If I'd received one of those notices, you can darn well bet I'd look elsewhere! I'm not going to wait until the ship sinks.

Posted by: mpdcam

Not only does the departement have GPS in the cruisers, but you have an electronic hand scanner to punch on and off shift. Don't be late for your punch or you will be in trouble.

As for the layoff notices, I agree. Those guys should get out of Dodge ASAP. I worked for a department that did he same thing every spring for 3 years. The same guys got layoff notices and then days before they were to be laid off, the city "found" money to save their jobs. The sad part is that during the same time, the city built 2 new schools and planned a multi-million dollar middle school, which is currently being built.

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