"Outreach with treats; Hub police hope to build community relations with Operation Hoodsie Cup" by Travis Andersen, Globe Staff | July 24, 2010
Community policing is getting a whole lot sweeter.
Last night, Boston police launched Operation Hoodsie Cup, an outreach initiative that will send officers in an ice cream truck to different neighborhoods to hand out frozen treats to the city’s youth.
Commissioner Edward F. Davis said during a press conference at police headquarters in Roxbury that the new truck, emblazoned with the name of the operation, as well as the department’s anonymous tip line, will help build trust between local youth and the officers charged with protecting them....
Yeah, remember the ice cream the next time they blow away one of your friends.
Then you, taxpayers:
"Pay raise planned for police supervisors; Menino expected to OK 14% increase" by Maria Cramer, Globe Staff | July 16, 2010
The highest-ranking supervisors in the Boston Police Department are expected to receive 14 percent salary boosts, which city officials say is necessary to keep their pay on par with that of the officers they oversee.
Related: Boston Cops Bankrupting City
Commissioner Edward F. Davis said he recommended the salary increases for his command staff, which are expected to be approved by Mayor Thomas M. Menino in the next two weeks.
“These are very difficult decisions,’’ Davis said. “We understand the whole fiscal emergency, but at some point you need to establish a level playing field, so that captains don’t make more than the people who are supervising them.’’
But taxpayer watchdog groups said such hikes are increasingly difficult to sustain in an economic climate that has caused the city to cut services and threaten to close community centers and libraries.
“We’re in a very strange period of time to be offering such an extravagant increase at a time when most people are looking for jobs,’’ said Matthew Cahill, executive director of the Boston Finance Commission, a state- appointed fiscal watchdog agency.
The increase would affect 20 superintendents and deputy superintendents, who currently make a base salary of $113,000 to $137,000 and directly supervise the department’s captains, lieutenants and sergeants. Unlike other police officials, they cannot earn overtime, but their salaries can be significantly boosted through vacation buybacks and other perks.
The increases cover a four-year period retroactive to 2006, the last time command staff members got a raise. If the mayor approves Davis’s recommendation, the command staff supervisors will receive one-time checks for the amount they would have received if the increases had been in effect.
The city estimates that it will cost about $900,000, an average of $45,000 for each officer, to fund the lump-sum payments. The actual amounts per officer could vary significantly, depending on how long they have been in their current positions.
What could you do with a million dollars, Boston?
How many teachers would that save?
The salary hikes come at a time of recurrent budget deficits in the Police Department....
WhereTF are all your taxes going, Boston?
Related: Boston Globe Boomtown
Oh, $700 MILLION for HOTELS where POLITICAL PARTIES are held, huh?
Davis said he had to recommend the salary hikes to maintain morale and keep incentives for talented officers to take jobs as commanders.
And what about the morale of the public you are supposed to be serving?
“It’s wise in that it’s a necessity,’’ he said. “We’re dealing in a heavily unionized environment. We have to maintain competitiveness so we have the best people in the positions.’’
Self-serving public servants. What a concept.
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“You don’t want dissension in the ranks, especially in the Police Department, and you don’t want a supervisor making less than the people they’re overseeing,’’ Cahill said....
No wonder Boston is infested with unsolved crimes.
The city has been doling out pay raises to a variety of employees, often as the result of contentious labor negotiations. The City Council recently approved a $50 million contract, a more than 17 percent raise over five years, to firefighters.
Also see: Boston Fights Fires With Arbiters
No wonder there are so many fires in Boston.
The city is expected to start negotiations soon with dozens of other unions representing workers in the city, including the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association. Budget observers expect police unions to fight fiercely for the kind of increases firefighters received, especially since many officers saw their take-home pay drop this year following the state’s decision to stop funding a program that awards bonuses to officers with advanced degrees.
The pay raises are causing concern among fiscal watchdogs.
“The trends that we’ve been seeing over the last couple of years can’t be sustained,’’ said Sam Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, “If they are, it’s going to be at the expense of providing basic services.’’
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“Given that Boston finances are going to be under stress for years to come, there need to be limits on salary increases for public employees,’’ according to Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
So DON'T MOVE to Boston, folks, because it is going to be a real s*** city soon.
