Pax Centurion - March/April 2010

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PAXCENTURIONPAXCENTURIONNation’s First Police Department • Established 1854 Volume 40, Number 2 • March/April 2010

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(continued on page A3)

The advertisers of the Pax Centurion do not nec-essarily endorse the opinions of the Pax Centurion/Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association.

The advertisers are in support of the BPPA Schol-arship Fund and every patrolmen who risks his orher life to protect and serve the community.

Judge Gertner’sexcellent bus rideHypocrite liberal takesbus ride through real,

live inner-cityneighborhood, takescheap-shots at cops

By Jim Carnell, Pax Editor

Guess what cop-hating Federal JudgeNancy Gertner did!? She took a

real, live, bus ride through Roxbury andMattapan with awhole bunch ofher screeching-liberal friends,and she hadpizza with gang-bangers, andthen (par for thecourse) she tooka few verbal slapsat the police(which she does from the bench, any-way…).

Yes, an article appeared in the Bos-ton Globe of Saturday, Feb. 20th (whichis probably why everyone missed it) en-titled “An eye-opening ride into the citywithin the city”, by Globe reporter Jo-seph P. Kahn. Apparently, a local en-trepreneur has found a way to bleedmoney from stupid, rich liberals and as-sorted other idiots by starting a bus tourcalled “Boston by Night,” in which cor-porate executives, leading philanthro-pists, and Boston’s power-brokers takea “real eye-opener” (their words, notmine) of a tour through inner-cityneighborhoods where few, if any ofthem, have ever been.

And among the committed liberalslooking to feel good about themselveswas Newton’s own Federal Judge NancyGertner, Wellesley College grad and


Federal JudgeNancy Gertner

By Jim Barry, BPPA Legislative Agent

Local police unions and groups were lobbying the Casino Bill for passage of anamendment stripping the exclusive State Police jurisdiction at casinos and race-

track slot machine venues included in the pending House gambling bill. The growth ofthe Massachusetts State Police will need to be in the hundreds for this new charge of“exclusivity” in policing criminal violations at these gaming venues. This cost willsurely take away millions of dollars in promised in local aid to the Commonwealth’scities and towns.

Police groups lobby for jurisdictionPolice groups lobby for jurisdiction


Gov. Patrick continues attack onpolice pay, benefits

Sympathy for the devil


Governor Deval Patrick, the alleged“friend of labor”, has continued his re-

lentless attack on municipal (not state) po-lice officer pay and benefits with threats tofurther undermine police details, educa-tional benefits, pensions and health insur-ance.

The Governor, who presented himself afew years ago as an alleged friend of theworking man, has proven to be what many

of his critics originally believed: he is a wolfin sheep’s clothing. It is beyond question orargument that he certainly hates police of-ficers, except for showing up at the annual“Hannah Awards” ceremony at the StateHouse wearing a Cheshire-cat grin express-ing his “admiration and respect for the jobwe do.” (Keep it Governor, and stick itwhere the sun don’t shine. None of us be-lieve you…).

Despite his attempts to portray himself

as a poor child who grew up on the toughsouth side of Chicago, Governor Patrick isin fact a child of wealth and privilege. Heattended (free of tuition) prestigious MiltonAcademy, and then attended (free of tuition)Harvard University. (Unlike police officerswho had to pay tuition, attend school andactually earn their Quinn Bill-eligible de-gree, Governor Patrick has no knowledgeof what paying a student loan entails.) Hispolitically-appointed sinecure as an attor-ney in the U.S. Department of Justice – CivilRights Division – honed his skills as a pro-fessional cop-hater. He then went on to“earn” (HA!) millions of dollars as a corpo-rate lawyer (HEY… don’t liberals hate “cor-porate lawyers”???) for Coca-Cola Co.,Ameriquest Mortgage Co. (weren’t they theones who were involved in peddling sub-prime mortgages to the poor and under-privileged???), and other major corpora-tions, serving on their “board of directors”while raking in millions for an occasionalmonthly meeting. He owns mansions inMilton and the Berkshires. I would love tobe such a poor child, if only I was as under-privileged as he. (Ergo, I am privileged????Lucky me!)

The Governor, in the middle of a toughre-election battle (which hopefully he willlose) has cut Quinn-bill reimbursements to



INCREDIBLE, isn’t it? A 19-year-oldmaggot shoots at police officers with his

illegal .45 cal. automatic handgun, actuallydrops a clip and reloads, then shoots him-self in the head while under return fire fromthe cops, and “the community” comes tohis aid? Are you kidding me?

This maggot scumbag – ManuelDaViega – and I will under no circum-stances apologize to anyone for using thoseblunt terms- attempted to kill several of ourofficers from the gang unit, and but for theirtraining, experience, luck and the grace ofGod, he would have succeeded. But imme-diately after the attempted murder of theseofficers on Navillus Terrace in Dorchester,Saturday, April 3rd, “the community” (Ques-tion: exactly what “community” is that? Thecommunity of maggots, scumbags, and at-tempted cop-killers?) were on-scene,screaming and yelling insults at the cops,claiming all sorts of conspiracies, racism,excessive force, blah-blah-blah, adnauseum. Geez, if one of the cops involved

Journalists, “community,” try to rationalize,excuse attempted cop-killer’s behavior

had been shot or killed, would “the com-munity” have been lighting their phonymemorial candles for them, leaving bal-loons and teddy bears and flowers on amakeshift shrine? Yeah, I don’t think so ei-ther….

His mother was quoted in the BostonHerald (April 8th, page 6) saying that “thepolice killed my son.” Ma’am – (Ms.Isabella Fernandez of Quincy) – all duerespect to motherhood and fully understand-ing a grieving mother’s attempts to putblame anywhere but where it belongs, butyour son was a maggot and a scumbag.


Page A2 • PAX CENTURION • March/April 2010 617-989-BPPA (2772)

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OFPOLICE ORGANIZATIONS

Volume 40, No. 2 • Readership 125,000 • March/April 2010

Thomas J. Nee, Executive DirectorRonald MacGillivray, Vice President

John Broderick, Jr., SecretaryThomas Pratt, Treasurer

BOARD OF EDITORSJames Carnell, Managing Editor

Mark Bruno, Pat Rose,Assistant Managing Editors

James Orsino, PresidentRobert Morley, Vice President

EMS OfficersJohn Bilotas, Secretary

Anthony O’Brien, TreasurerLen Shubitowski, Chief Steward

Bulk Mailing Postage Paid at Worcester, Mass., Permit No. 2226

BPPA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

BPPA COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

EDITORIAL POLICY

AREA ABrian Reaney • Tom CorbettJohn Bates • Jimmy Carnell

Michael Leary • Robert AnthonyBob Luongo • James Warmsley

AREA BDavid Fitzgerald • Michael Sullivan

Richard McCormackSteve Parham • Vincent Stephens

John McDonald

AREA CTimothy Golden

Joe Miskel • Mark BrunoPatrick Rose • Chuck Kelley

Robert Young

AREA DScott Yanovitch • Robert Butler

Greg Lynch • Samuel BerteTom Barrett • Richard Moriarty

AREA EPaul Nee • Lawrence Calderone

Gerald Rautenberg • Steve KelleyArthur McCarthy• Angel FigueroaChris Morgan • Richard JordanDaniel Byrne • Jimmy Giraldo

AREA FIDENT. UNIT – Michael Griffin

DRUG UNIT – Paul QuinnYVSF – Robert Griffin • Vance Mills

M.O.P.Otis HarewoodPeter Cabrera RADIO SHOP / P.D.S.

John Kundy • P.D.S. – Karen VanDyke

TURRETJohn Conway • Curtis Carroll

Horace Kincaide

ACADEMY / RANGEEVIDENCE MANAGEMENT HARBOR

Jeff Tobin

E.S.U.Hector Cabrera • Francis Deary

HEADQUARTERS

AWARDSBob Butler • J. Broderick • G. Rautenberg

GRIEVANCEBob Butler • Jim Carnell • Brian ReaneyMike Leary • Tom Pratt • Dave Fitzgerald

BUILDINGTom Nee

BARGAININGTom Nee • Ron MacGillivray • Jay Broderick

Tom Pratt • Dave Fitzgerald

LEGISLATIVEJim Barry

MassPULLJim Barry

K-9Kevin Ford

MASTER AT ARMSRobert Lundbohm • Mike Murphy

John RogersEric Hardin

PUBLIC RELATIONSJim Barry

PAX CENTURIONJim Carnell • Mark Bruno • Patrick Rose

BYLAWSTom Nee

HEALTH and SAFETY / LABOR MANAGEMENTJohn KundyELECTIONS

Dave FitzgeraldEDUCATION

Tom NeeDETAILS / OVERTIME

Patrick Rose

1. Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association.2. No responsibility is assumed for unsolicited material.3. Letters or articles submitted shall be limited to 350 words and must be accompanied by the writer’s name,

but may be reprinted without name or address at writer’s request.4. Freedom of expression is recognized within the bounds of good taste and the limits of available space.5. The B.P.P.A. reserves the right to edit submission and/or include Editor’s notes to any submitted materials.6. The deadline for printed materials for the next issue is MAY 21, 2010.7. Any article printed in this issue may be reprinted in future issues.

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Unity & Strength

Union Printworks

RETIRED PATROLMEN’S DIVISIONBilly Flippin

From the President: Thomas J. Nee

All politicsare local

As the economy continues to suffer from the worst economic situation since theGreat Depression, public sector employee pay and benefits have became a conve-

nient scapegoat for all that ails Massachusetts and the economy. Rather than blame reck-less Wall Street investors, regulatory agencies asleep at the switch, bad political decisionsand policies, most, if not all, are focused on us.

Elected officials, special interest groups and the media are taking great liberty with thecurrent economic climate and are convincing the public that it is our collective fault thatthe deficits exist. It is said that ninety-one percent of the people working in the privatesector are at-will employees, most have no job security, extremely expensive or non-existent health insurance, no defined benefit retirement plans and their 401k accounts arebeing depleted. Their anger and growing “wage and benefit envy” between public sectoremployees and private sector employees has created a divide and is seemingly gettingworse.

Elected officials are well aware of this and the public’s growing discontent and anger.In today’s hyperpartisan political world why does it seem that we, the working people ofthe Commonwealth have no elected officials or political party to turn to, and why does itseem to me that the friends of labor and the party of the working class has turned its backon us after we have long supported them and their ideology. Seemingly they have becomefocused on destroying worker’s rights, collective bargaining agreements, wages, benefitsand stability that come with them. For years, Republican ideology has leaned to the right,supporting corporate interests and management rights, now come the Democrats wholean totally left and are embracing the same sort of mind-numbing concepts from theother extreme, leaving the middle class behind.

The political ground is shifting here in Massachusetts and the recent U.S. Senate elec-tion should serve as a notice to anyone seeking election that there is a hunger by the votersfor change. In my view they want to see more Democrats who are conservative andRepublicans who are more liberal of their respective party ideology, it is better known asbeing moderate. The voters want the work of their elected officials to be independent ofparty ideology and to reflect reasonableness, moderation, stability and trust. Those defin-ing characteristics are not necessarily moderate political views but willingness unlikeanything we are currently witnessing to cross the aisle on certain issues in contradictionto their party’s base ideology, a willingness to engage in the hard substance of publicpolicy and act independent of steering apparatus like their party leaders and the BostonGlobe.

These are very challenging times; many elected officials are choosing the easyapproach of over promising and discerning political points by misrepresenting thefacts. Our time will come, though not fast enough. When elected officials do notsupport police officers in Massachusetts it becomes a very unstable and unsafe placeto live and work.

Enough said! Watch each other’s back, it seems like all we have lately is each otherand our union.

cities and towns resulting in a net pay-cutfor cops across the state. He continues tolie to the public about fake, contrived “costsavings” by hiring flagmen instead of po-lice officers, despite documented proof thatflaggers are FAR more expensive than uti-lizing professional police officers. Attempt-ing to channel public anger away from hisown outrageous spending and hiring of po-litical cronies, he has made police officersthe “red herring” for the public’s wrath.(“Screw the cops” – a popular opinion –hey, who hasn’t gotten a ticket or had a run-in with a police officer at one time in theirlives and would like to get even???)

Instead of focusing attention on profli-gate welfare programs, free entitlements,free health care coverage for bums and ille-gal aliens who never paid a dime into thesystem, and other programs designed to “re-distribute wealth” from those who work tothose who never did, will, or would, the

Governor has decided that making policeofficers “Public Enemy No. 1” is the bestway to win re-election.

Although the Governor has allegedly cutthe State Police budget by a commensurateamount related to their similar Quinn-Billeducational incentive program, in fact thisis not true. No State police officer has infact received one-dime in pay cuts, becausethe Staties simply cut from “other” areas oftheir total budget, such as capital expenses,new cruisers, etc. etc. Therefore, only mu-nicipal police officers have actually incurredpay cuts, while the State Police remain un-touched by the Governor’s budget cuts. TheGovernor has also announced new initia-tives to put all municipal workers in a groupinsurance plan, as well as plans to cut pen-sion benefits for retirees. If this is our “friendof labor”, would somebody please returnMitt Romney, Bill Weld, Paul Cellucci,and Jane Swift?

Governor Patrick continues attack onpolice pay, benefits(continued from page A1)

William Shaw

PAID DETAILSJoseph Ruka

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • March/April 2010 • Page A3

Message from the Vice President: Ronald MacGillivray

Funding for Quinn Bill still on life supportFunding for the Quinn Bill is still on life

support as the BPPA, BPSOF, BPDBSalong with other police agencies are seek-ing revenue sources. Future profits fromracinos, slots and destination casinos are onthe drawing board and have been targetedand only time will tell how this will playout.

Our records indicate that there are ap-proximately 50 members with Associatesdegrees who have 20 years on the job. Theseofficers would qualify for payment underboth the Plan and the Program and shallreceive the higher payment (and additionalovertime with longevity program) to whichthey are entitled. The Department and theCity are in agreement but a grievance willbe filed to protect the date of change.

Governor’s HealthCare on Life Support?

Now that the floodgates have opened re-garding the ever increasing volume of

care being sought at Mass. Health…howabout some strategy in capping the cost ofmedical care. On March 20th, the BostonGlobe reported that “the state is suddenlyfacing up to a $295 million shortfall” enter-ing the 4th quarter of the fiscal year. Theoperative word here is suddenly, this fill inthe blank million dollar shortfall, monthafter month, truly shows the Governor’sbudget office lack of ability to even comeclose to getting it right.

On March 31st, the Globe reported theGovernor ironically finds $100 million, justanother accounting rehearsal preparing usfor the federal version…so “$77 million willbe covered by the federal government inreimbursements to the state’s Medicaid pro-gram, leaving the state to cover the remain-ing $118 million. Federal monies will keepthe state’s Medicaid program functional forthe national visual but when the subsidystops, universal health care will bleed themunicipalities dry. These are not “typicalfluctuations.” People are looking for finan-cial responsibility…not another govern-ment sponsored ponzi scheme.

Discipline andTruthfulness

When looking at which is the betterroute to take when appealing disci-

pline, it is safe to say that appealing disci-pline through the arbitration process and the“just cause” provision in our CBA earnsbetter results. The burden of proof in arbi-tration rests with the employer to show thatthe discipline imposed met the contractualstandards for that discipline…where theburden of proof usually falls on the em-ployee at Civil Service.

The “just cause” standard goes beyondthe acknowledgement of the misconduct,with the level of discipline imposed for theoffense usually being where the parties dis-agree. In court, the legal issue may bewhether the employer was “arbitrary or ca-

pricious” and whether there is factual evi-dence to support the employer’s disciplin-

ary decision. At arbitration, the issue willbe whether the employer’s decision wassupported by proven facts and whether thediscipline imposed was fair consideringthose facts.

The standard of proof depending on thecharge could involve a preponderance of theevidence, clear and convincing evidence, orif criminal behavior is involved or termina-tion sought, the employer might have toprove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.Decisions vary but proportional punishmentconsistent with prior judgments is an im-portant deciding factor along with testimonythat corroborates the specifications that anofficer is said to have violated. If the de-partment is overzealous when stacking thespecifications it usually shows with theirlack of credible testimony to support thosecharges when there is a true neutral deter-miner of the facts. No cases are currently inthe box but some are in the bullpen that willno doubt test the 15 working day suspen-sion in the past that under similar circum-stances turns into a termination in thepresent.

Police are held to a higher standard intheir workplace, especially when convictedof a crime or the officer has engaged in anact of dishonesty. That is why the depart-ment is extremely creative when going overIAD interviews of officers and complain-ants. Some department truthfulness chargesare not as evident as one would expect butone thing is for sure…if the department ismotivated, a specification will be generated.Truthfulness for some cases is a great bar-gaining chip and in other cases is a neces-sity to ensure the desired goal. The lattertends to trigger the department’s resource-ful side where the department measures,determines and frames what thatindividual’s thought process was at a par-ticular moment to arrive at a truthfulnesscharge.

A future case involves an officer who, inhindsight, admitted to authoring and for-warding an offensive e-mail. Specificationsinclude conduct, respectful treatment andextremely poor judgment. Generally, thesecharges would not be enough to sustain thediscipline sought for a first time, off-dutyevent, but this event was high profile. Aquestionable truthfulness charge was added,disputing the officer’s belief when he for-warded the e-mail. If I were to go along withthe department’s notion that the officer knewthat the e-mail was offensive when he hitthe send button…I would also have to be-lieve that the officer was fully cognizant ofthe consequences to his current livelihood

and to his character when he hit the sendbutton…and I do not believe that. The opin-

ion is irrelevant but the larger messageshould be clear for anyone that finds them-selves similarly situated in the future.

Special Election

It was just a few months ago during the“special election” that all the candidates

in the democratic U.S. Senate primary de-

Future profits from racinos, slots and destinationcasinos are on the drawing board and have beentargeted and only time will tell how this will play out.

bate were questionafter question tryingto position themselves to the left of the pre-vious speaker. Who could foresee the over-whelming resentment to what was going onin Washington play out the way it did? TheDemocratic nominee, Martha Coakley,be-ing the would-be deciding vote, got caughtin a tsunami of anti-legislation backlash andlost the election.

Martha Coakley was a good candidateand a good friend of the BPPA, but thehealth care issue became an all importantmessage. This election was more of a con-sensus on the issue of fiscal responsibilityregarding the health care proposal than the

According to the Herald, Ms. Fernandezsaid “The police killed my son…he did noth-ing.” Isabella, in fact, your son diddo some-thing. He shot at police officers, Isabella.He committed suicide, in more ways thanone. When you choose to shoot at policeofficers, you deserve what comes in return.Expect nothing else. Forget all the crapabout “shooting the gun out of his hands”or “why didn’t they just shoot him in theleg.” That’s Hollywood. Real life is muchmore simple, Isabella. You attempt to killpolice, the police will attempt to kill you.Period. End of story.

But much, much more disgusting thanhaving to read a grieving mother’s lament(misplaced though it was), was reading of

the reaction of the alleged “community”who showed up at the scene on NavillusTerrace and Hancock Street and began vent-ing their anger at the police. These peopleare truly the scum of the earth. The Depart-ment, of course, ever-sensitive to public re-lations issues, have expressed their “con-cern” for “community relations” and willattempt to mollify and pacify the biggestmouths in the alleged “community.” Thereis little hope of satisfying people who, afterpolice officers have been shot at by a gun-toting felon who actually dropped a clip andre-loaded before killing himself, show upto criticize, scream and accuse the policeof “excessive force.” Jeffrey Brown, ex-ecutive director of the “TenPoint Coalition,”was quoted in the Herald saying “The gen-eral perception that I’ve gotten from peoplein the community is that the shooting is sus-

picious.” Really, Jeff? Well tell “the com-munity” – whoever they are – to screw it-self. In fact, Jeff, “the real community” –the residents of Navillus Terrace and theimmediate surrounding area who have beenterrorized by these thugs – came out to tes-tify as to exactly what happened withDaViega and reported that he had in factput the gun to his own head and killed him-self after shooting at the police. Where isthere even one iota of concern about thecops who saw their lives flash in front ofthem? Or is it just “part of their job” thatcops are supposed to deal with, like beingbeaten, kicked, spat upon, insulted, etc. etc.?

And the media, too, is just as disgrace-ful. There was almost an immediate attempt

to portray poor, little Manuel DaViega assuffering from mental illness, and thereforenot responsible for himself. He had “inter-nalized anger issues,” “bipolar disorder,” orsome other mental ailment. I personallyknow many people who have been diag-nosed with mental illnesses of one kind oranother, but they’re not robbing, raping,dealing drugs or shooting at cops. So PeterGelzinis, Yvonne Abraham, et al, pass theKleenex and dry your tears. ManuelDaViega was a maggot and a scumbag-nothing more, nothing less. Let’s call it whatit is. Stop trying to find excuses and ratio-nalize the “why did he do it”? Sometimes, theanswer is just as simple as it is. Manny tried tokill cops because he hated them, and he lost.Thankfully, it was at his own hand, but itdoesn’t matter. As long as the good guys gohome at night, all’s well that ends well….

Sympathy for the devil…(continued from page A1)


But much, much more disgusting than having toread a grieving mother’s lament (misplacedthough it was), was reading of the reaction of thealleged “community” who showed up at the sceneon Navillus Terrace And Hancock Street and beganventing at the police. These people are truly thescum of the earth.


Treasury Notes: Thomas Pratt, BPPA Treasurer

Thanks to the advertisers for supporting the BPPA charitable efforts

Long-Term Care Insurance Policy Now AvailableThe BPPA has partnered through Jim Boyle an agreement to offer its members

Long Term Care insurance. As a member of the Association, you can now obtain aLong Term Care insurance policy for you and your spouse through a national lifeinsurance company.

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Along term care plan may be one of the most important benefits to assist you in the protection of your retirement portfolio and pension plan.

Below are some of the plan highlights that are available :• 10% Association Member Discount• 40% Marital Discount1• Simplified Underwriting

Long Term Care Insurance.Is it right for you?

Most of us have to think about buying long term care (LTC) insurance. Thepurchase often presents the most difficult insurance question for people over

50.What’s more, LTC coverage may not be necessary or affordable. Before buying,

take the following into account:Family status. Consider the financial risk of incurring out-of-pocket expenses for

long-term care: impoverishing a spouse, partner, or other financially dependent fam-ily member. Single people don’t face that risk, so all other things being equal; theyhave less need for LTC insurance.

Affordability. Most LTC experts say the ideal candidates for long-term-care cov-erage are those who can comfortably afford the premiums.

Your general financial picture also determines how affordable LTC policies arefor you. One common measure is net worth, excluding the home, or more simply, theamount of investments and savings you expect to have after you retire. People withless than $500,000 in investments might not be able to afford LTC coverage.

Another more reliable measure of affordability is how much the insurance willcost as a percentage of your expected retirement income. If the premiums are likelyto consume more than 10 percent of your income, you probably can’t afford thecoverage.

Family health history. Not a perfect predictor, the health patterns of parents andgrandparents can still indicate what the future may hold. If your parents experiencedchronic health problems or other conditions that required prolonged care, this mayargue in favor of an LTC policy.

Importance of passing on an inheritance. If passing on an inheritance is impor-tant to you, an LTC policy could protect some of your assets for future generations.

Before Buying a Policy

An LTC policy can be an expensive, long-term investment. Consider the following:

Understand the limitations and features of the policy. Long-term-care insurance isaggressively sold. Many purchasers don’t understand what they’re getting – or notgetting.

Become an expert on long-term-care insurance before buying a policy. Its premi-ums could be one of your biggest retirement expenses. So make the most of yourhard-earned dollars.

If your employer offers LTC insurance, consider it. But while policies offeredthrough an employer may be less expensive, the benefits may not be as comprehen-sive as you would like.

Favor policies that provide comprehensive home health-care coverage and cover-age for nursing homes. Inflation protection is also an important feature, particularlyfor boomers who are considering this coverage.

You can cut premium costs by limiting the LTC policy to three years or less. How-ever, if you spend much longer than that in a nursing home, you may impoverishyourself anyway. According to some studies about 8 percent of us will spend morethan five years in a “nursing facility.”

You may lower premium costs by eliminating all the expensive bells and whistleswhile keeping the inflation kicker. Lowering the daily reimbursement rate and in-creasing the waiting period until benefits kick in also lowers premiums.

If you can only afford to insure one person, women are more likely to spend ex-tended periods in nursing homes.

When Should You Buy an LTC Policy?

Keep in mind that the annual premiums for LTC coverage are much higher if youwait until your 60s or later to take out a policy. Few experts recommend purchas-

ing coverage before age 50. After age 70, premiums may become prohibitively ex-pensive.

While you’ll pay lower premiums if you buy a policy at a younger age, keep inmind that you’re likely to pay a long time before collecting benefits, if ever. Theaverage age at which people enter nursing homes is 83.

On the other hand, a compelling argument for purchasing a policy at a younger ageis that health issues could render you uninsurable at an older age. Buy an LTC policyat a younger age if any of the following apply:

• If your health is deteriorating• If you engage in high-risk activities• If your family has a history of early disabilityIf your fear of the unexpected is robbing you of sleep, you may want to obtain

coverage now rather than waiting.

Contact Jim Boyle, brother of Officers Tom and Bob Boyle at 508-333-4336 or by e-mail at [email protected] a free consultation on any questions regarding Long Term Care or any insurance product.

As always, I hope to find everyone do-ing well. The first order of business

that I would like to bring up is our Unionnewspaper, the PAX Centurion. I would justlike to thank all of the businesses that buyads in the PAX. The advertisements that arepurchased in our publication not only fundthe scholarship program, but also a host ofother worthy causes. This is not only forour member’s children, but also for someless than fortunate kids throughout the cityand beyond. These causes range from youthbaseball, basketball, hockey, swim teams,cheerleading, Pop Warner football and amyriad of other youth activities. Some ofthe other worthy causes that we donate toare cancer charities and other debilitatingdiseases and not to mention a plethora ofscholarship funds outside the Union. So in

closing on this subject, I would just like toreiterate my thanks to all who purchasedan advertisement in the PAX.

The next topic (you know it, you love itand you can’t get enough of it): DETAILS.Through the efforts of the BPPA and MayorMenino’s office we are attempting to get ahome-rule petition passed. It would allowthe city to control public safety details op-posed to the state and its Draconian regula-tions. A hearing was held at the State Houseon April 6, 2010. Your leadership team alongwith members of the Grievance and Detailand Overtimes Committees were in atten-dance. President Tom Nee,Traffic and Park-ing Commissioner Tom Tinlin along withSuperintendent William Evans, membersof the utility unions Steve Finnegan andDan Leary and Richard Walsh, owner of

Walsh Brothers Construction Company allgave testimony. The testimony given by allof the above was first-rate. It dealt with thepublic’s safety and how police officers atdetails facilitate traffic for emergency ve-hicles, respond to calls for aid and on-sitecrimes in progress. Commissioner Tinlinstated that Boston is a unique place. A regu-lation that works in Barre, Massachusettsmight not be the best solution for our citywith its high volume of motor vehicle traf-fic and patterns. I would also like to thankState Representative Marty Walsh ofDorchester, who sponsored the bill up at theState House. Representative Walsh put a lotof effort into this endeavor and he shouldbe commended for it. Last, but not least,City Councilors Steve Murphy and JohnConnolly were also in attendance. They

gave testimony and co-sponsored the billon the city’s side of the process. They shouldalso be applauded. Now, this may sound likea lovefest, but I have always stated, givecredit where credit is due. In the past, wehave disagreed on issues with our employerand we will probably disagree on issues inthe future. But that is a nice thing about liv-ing in a city and community where theelected officials actually listen. You can havea disagreement and move on. Now, on ac-tually performing a detail, be very cogni-zant of your surroundings. Again, I cannotstress enough, be on time and be visible.This is an uphill battle and we do not needto give our enemies any cannon fodder tohurt us.

My next topic is an issue I have with the(continued on page A9)


Secretary Spread: Jay Broderick, BPPA Secretary

Attacks from within are troubling and unfair

friend of Hillary Clinton (which is how shegot appointed) and longtime hater of policeofficers, especially Boston ones! Accord-ing to the Globe “…The tour is an amal-gam of sociological field study, criminaljustice seminar, and donor sales pitch($$$$$!!!!- that’s what it’s REALLY allabout) its itinerary typically made up ofcommunity centers, housing developmentsand law enforcement outposts along a 2-mile stretch of Blue Hill Avenue.”

During the tour, the phony liberals gotto stop and “munch pizza… with impactplayers.” Wow, that’s pretty cool, Nance!Bet all your friends will be so excited backat the garden party in your ritzy Newtonneighborhood.

But here’s the best part, and I’ll simplyquote verbatim from the Globe: “With thefloor open to questions and comments, USDistrict Judge Nancy Gertner, who was tak-ing the tour that night, expressed concernabout urban youths winding up in her court-room “for crimes they wouldn’t be arrestedfor in Brookline or Newton.” AHHHM,wanna run that one by me again, Nancy? Ibeg to differ, but I’m fairly damn sure that

“urban youths” (again, her words, not mine)would be arrested pretty damn quickly ifthey were caught walking in the exclusiveparts of Newton and Brookline in which youand your ilk reside. Yup, I’m pretty damnsure that if some local gangbangers foundtheir way to the Chestnut Hill Mall or de-cided to lollygag and stroll through LarzAnderson park, Nancy and her friendswould on their cell phones damn quick tothe local police wanting the urban youthsremoved from their elite environs.

What an utter phony, posing a questionlike that. It tells you the demented, liberalworld she comes from, the hypocrisy, thephoniness of these frauds who pretend tobe concerned about the plight of the innercity youth while they make sure they gohome to their multi-million dollar, lily-whiteneighborhoods at night. Gertner goes on tosay later in the article “What mattered tome was seeing the intended, and unin-tended, consequences of law enforcement.”See the inference: inner-city crime is thefault of the police. Not the maggots andscumbags who destroy neighborhoodsthrough their criminal actions and ruin the

lives of decent, law-abiding, workingpeople, NOOOO- it’s the “consequences oflaw enforcement” that’s to blame. That’s us-the police. Blame the police.

I’m sure that Nancy went home to New-ton after her excellent bus ride and got totell her ACLU-attorney husband and chil-dren about the plight of the oppressed andhow the evil police were harassing the poorgangbangers and forcing them into crimeand poverty. And I’m sure she feels goodabout herself (which we all know is veryimportant to liberals – “feeling good aboutthemselves”). Having pizza with gang-bangers is almost certain to make you thecenterpiece of the next wine and brie socialat some posh Newton bistro. But maybe oneway of helping Nancy and her friends tobetter understand the plight of the down-trodden and oppressed is to reverse the flow;in other words, have our local drugdealers,gangsters and street thugs take a bus tourthrough Nancy’s nice Newton neighbor-hood. I’d be willing to drive and pay for thebus for that tour, with just two caveats:there’s only one stop, and the ticket is one-way.

Judge Gertner’s excellent bus ride…(continued from page A1)

The attacks against Boston Police Offic-ers, in particular, and our profession in

general, have been continuous and havecome from a variety of sources. The elimi-nation of bargained benefits has resulted ina significant pay cut to many while the at-

tempted “reform” of paid details has re-sulted in fewer opportunities to make up thewages stripped from us. The desire of theCity to change the plan design of our healthcare insurance will present a difficult chal-lenge in upcoming negotiations. Morefrightening is the increase in physical as-saults against Police Officers nationwide.

Having served as a police officer for 17years, I have come to accept the physicalassaults that come with the job. Serving asa BPPA Shift Rep for over 12 years and asthe BPPA Secretary for the past five years,I have learned to expect the resentment ofthe benefits we have gained through col-lective bargaining though the overwhelm-ing majority of those who complain aboutwhat we have earned over the years, would

NEVER do the job that we do day in dayout.

What I cannot, nor will I ever learn tolive with, is an attack from someone withwhom I share the same profession or an at-tack from someone who purports to repre-

sent the concerns of fellow Police Officers.The comments made by M.A.M.L.E.O.PresidentLarry Ellison in the March 13, 2010Boston Globe were troubling and unfair.

For those who are unfamiliar with thearticle in the Globe let me provide somebackground. A letter was written to the lead-ership of the BPPA that expressed concernswith a recent issue of the Pax Centurion andthe cartoon representation of PresidentBarack Obama as well as the cartoondrawing of Martha Coakley. The letter waswell-written and raised some great points.The letter did not mention race, yet stressedthat the authors, of the letter, felt that thePax should be more respectful to the officeof the Presidency of the United States(Obama cartoon) and to show more respect

to families that had lost loved ones (Coakleycartoon). The letter was signed by a num-ber of BPPA members. Some white, someblack, some male, and some female.

A few days later, the Boston Globe con-tacted the Pax Centurion’s editor, JimCarnell seeking a reaction about the letterand the allegation of potential discrimina-tion raised by Larry Ellison ofM.A.M.L.E.O. On March 13, 2010, Bos-ton Globe reporter, Maria Cramer wrotean article about the letter and included anumber of comments from Larry Ellison.

Interestingly enough, Mr. Ellison wasNOT one of the members who signed theletter. Furthermore, the original author ofthe letter, Bob Young, a BPPA Shift Rep,was outraged that the Boston Globe hadbeen given a copy of the letter and that itwas now being used in a manner that it wasnot designed for. Copies of both letters areincluded within this issue of the Pax Cen-turion.

Before I go any further, let me be clearthat I fully support Jim Carnell and theincredible amount of hardwork and time he

devotes to getting the Pax together and outto our membership. It is OUR way of get-ting information out to the membership

about issues thatare important. Likeany newspaper, there are articles, commen-tary, and/or cartoons that will cause discus-sions and disagreements. We have alwaysinvited the membership to contribute to thePax and many have done so. They are con-tributing their opinions. The Pax is there forour members in many different ways,whether it’s to keep them up to date on im-portant issues or to make them laugh.

Though I thought that Larry Ellison wasoff-base with many of his comments, I wasshocked to see the one that Ellison was plan-ning to notify those companies that placeadvertising in the Pax to discourage themfrom advertising.

I am assuming that Larry Ellisondoesn’t realize how important our advertis-ers are to the Pax and the incredible amountof extra benefits the BPPA provides to ourmembers and the neighborhoods of Bostonas a result of the revenue from the advertis-ing. If it wasn’t for the generous support ofthe Pax’s advertisers then we wouldn’t beable to award the $40,000 worth of schol-

arships to the children of our members. Wewouldn’t be able to support the many youthand community programs that we support.Programs like South Boston Pop Warner,the Mildred Avenue Community CenterSwim Team, Dorchester Youth Hockey, thePrince Hall Christmas Party for Kids, theGay Officers Action League, or the count-less “Times for Friends” that we contributeover $25,000 annually. Without those con-tributions we wouldn’t be able to help payfor the memorials to fallen Police Officersincluding contributing to the fund to erect aheadstone at Evergreen Cemetery inBrighton for Sgt. Horatio J. Homer, whowas the first black Boston Police officer andwhose grave, sadly enough, has been un-marked since his death. Nor would theBPPA be able to purchase the passes, to themany venues throughout the city, whichallow our members to save money whileenjoying time with their families.

At the end of the day, the BPPA repre-sentsALLBoston Police Officers. We takethat responsibility extremely serious and wedo so without regard for the race, color,gender, or personal preference of thosemembers. To allege anything otherwise iscompletely untrue as well as incredibly un-fair. With all of the serious issues facing thelaw enforcement profession, it’s essentialthat we all work toward improving this jobas opposed to trying to divide it.

Stay safe!

It is OUR way of getting information out to themembership about issues that are important.Like any newspaper, there are articles, commentary,and/or cartoons that will cause discussions anddisagreements. We have always invited themembership to contribute to the Pax and manyhave done so. They are contributing their opinions.The Pax is there for our members in manydifferent ways, whether it’s to keep them up todate on important issues or to make them laugh.

If it wasn’t for the generous support of the Pax’sadvertisers then we wouldn’t be able to awardthe $40,000 worth of scholarships to the childrenof our members. We wouldn’t be able to supportthe many youth and community programs thatwe support.



In regards to the attached/adjacent lettersfrom C-6 BPPA Representative Bob

Young, et al, let me first say I appreciategreatly the fact that Bob had the courage andthe decency to express his view in writing.It is unfortunate that so many cowards existtoday, even in our department, who do nothave the courage of their convictions andinstead use outside sources such as report-ers from the Boston Globe to do their dirtywork for them. I think Bob’s second letter(printed on page 7 of the Pax) addresses thismatter far better than anything else I could say.

As far as Bob’s first letter goes, let meaddress a few issues: First, we do allow foreditorializing and for cartoons that some maynot agree with, but that appears to representthe majority opinion of our membership. Inmy experience, the majority of police offic-ers seem to have more conservative viewsthan the majority of the Massachusetts elec-torate; if I’m wrong about this, let me know,but that seems to be basically correct. As faras the picture of President and Mrs.Obama using the wrong hand to cover theirhearts during the National Anthem, perhapsI should have checked further into the au-thenticity of the photo. If it was in fact a doc-tored e-mail photo, I apologize for using it.We try to do the best we can with our verylimited resources and part-time staff of non-professionals. Sometimes deadlines and –quite frankly – the need to scramble to findfiller material supersedes our ability to fact-check. You may remember that the BostonGlobe some years ago attended a City Hallpress conference orchestrated by City Coun-cilor Chuck Turner, who used pornographicphotos of women allegedly being raped byour military as “proof” of atrocities beingcommitted by our soldiers in Iraq. The Bos-ton Globe ran with the story, despite the factthat the photos clearly came from internetporn sites, and eventually had to retract thestory. If they didn’t have the time and re-sources to fact-check, then believe me, wecertainly don’t either…

But as far as the cartoons of “Obamadog”and Martha Coakley’s sinking ship beingcompared to Chappaquiddick, I’ll defendthem. Cartoons are what they are, which is…well… cartoons. They are a parody of cur-rent political events. You may disagree withthe message, but please don’t get your un-derwear tied into knots. For those of us whoare old enough to remember (I’m datingmyself, I know), “Obamadog” is a parodyof the old cartoon character “Underdog”.There’s no intent to compare the Presidentof the United States to a dog. Please don’tget apoplectic or hypersensitive.

And as far as the cartoon about MarthaCoakley’s sinking ship goes, ahhmmm…the Ted Kennedy/Chappaquiddick issue hasbeen used literally thousands of times in vari-ous political cartoons, editorials and com-ments by journalists and newspapers aroundthe nation. The incident itself occurred overforty years ago. The BPPA cartoonist, whois a longtime member, meant to highlightthe Coakley campaign’s sinking fortunes,and did not intend any form of disrespect

Pax editor responds to paper’s content criticism

whatsoever to the Kopechne family. (I highlydoubt the Kopechne family peruses the PaxCenturion each issue?) Personally, I am verymuch aware that about 80% of our member-ship voted for Scott Brown over MarthaCoakley in that Senate race, despite our of-ficial endorsement (Let’s be honest, please,if nothing else…). So again, don’t get yourundies tied in a bundle over a political car-toon. If you’d like to submit your own forpublication, please do so. But take a longbreath, please….

In closing, I again wish to thank C-6 Rep-resentative Bob Young for his professionaland courteous conduct in expressing his dis-agreement with items that appeared in thePax. I spoke with him personally and weagreed on some matters, disagreed on oth-ers. Regardless, he is a gentleman and a trueprofessional as well as a good shift repre-sentative. I have utter contempt, however, forlittle cowards who call their courtiers at theBoston Globe and use them to create a storywhere none actually exists. I speak directlyof M.A.M.L.E.O. President Larry Ellison,who was quoted in the Globe story sayingthat “Criticism of [Obama] …can be con-strued as racism.” Really, Larry? Geez, itseems I’m still waiting for an answer fromM.A.M.L.E.O. as to why the overt racistJamarhl Crawford, President of the localchapter of the New Black Panther Party, wasallowed to use M.A.M.L.E.O’s facilities tohost a “community forum” last year. (Won’thold my breath waiting for that one, Larry…)Detective Ellison never had the decency orcourtesy to write or call me directly prior tothe Globe reporter (Maria Cramer) callingme out of the blue. He also was quoted assaying that “There is a huge racial divide inthis department, and the Pax Centurion is alarge part of the problem”. Larry, any “hugeracial divide” exists only in the fertile imagi-nations of real racists, and not in the pagesof the Pax. I never heard a peep from Larryor M.A.M.L.E.O. when George W. Bushwas being savaged by the left-wing media,and quite honestly, being criticized severelyin the pages of many past issues of the Paxby some of our officers for anti-union posi-tions. Using the terrible scarlet letter of “rac-ism” to describe opposition to a politicalviewpoint or candidate is a detestable tool.It used to be said that “Patriotism is the lastrefuge of a scoundrel”. Today, that can alsobe said about those who cavalierly tossaround the accusation of racism. Somepeople use the issue of race as both a crutchand a club: a crutch to explain their own per-sonal shortcomings, and a club to kowtowtheir opponents into submission. Mr. Ellisoncan continue to use the crutch to claim themantle of victimhood; that is a personalchoice. But the club, like the little boy whocried “wolf” once too often, has lost its ef-fectiveness, as many of us have become tiredof its casual, baseless and frequent use. Wecan all agree to disagree about political is-sues. But oftentimes, a cartoon is just a car-toon, a photo is just a photo. Crying “rac-ism” at every slight, real, perceived or imag-ined, cheapens and demeans legitimate in-stances of racism when they do occur.

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BPPA members take issue with PAX contentSunday, March 7, 2010

The Editors of the Pax Centurion,As sworn officers of the Boston Police Department

(BPD) and members in good standing of the Boston PolicePatrolmen’s Association (BPPA), we the below named of-ficers feel the time is now to address articles, pictures andcartoons which are appearing in the Pax Centurion (Pax).In Volume 40, Number 1 dated January/February 2010 sec-tion C there are three which we find particularly offensive.The Cartoon and song titled “Obama-Dog,” the MarthaCoakley in the sinking car cartoon and the picture depict-ing the President and First Lady saluting the flag with thewrong hand.

Gentlemen it would come as no surprise to see imagessuch as these come from the Limbaugh’s, Olbermann’s,Hannity’s, Maher’s and Beck’s of the mainstream mediaas they unlike we of the BPD and BPPA are not swornwith the responsibility of representing all persons of thiscountry fairly and with the respect they deserve. To havemembers of, or person’s associated with this organizationdisrespect the Office of the President of the United Statesof America as a “dog?” Gentlemen we are not Islamic fun-damentalist from the Middle East and he is not our infidel,let us the members of the BPPA not be known as “shoethrowers”. He has attained the highest office in the landbecause regardless of how we as individuals feel about it,the majority of our fellow citizens said by vote that theywant him as our leader. We feel as though even if we don’talways agree with all of the policies being set forth by thePresident and his administration that shouldn’t stop us asan organization from giving him and the office he repre-sents the respect it deserves.

In reference to the cartoon depicting Attorney GeneralMartha Coakley going down in a sinking motor vehicle weagain are saddened. As Law enforcement professionals weare charged with caring for victims regardless of how longago they may have been victimized. The incident atChappaquiddick Island on July 19th, 1969, was a tragedywhich we are sure the victim’s family will never forget.We could only imagine the sheer horror which would befelt by the family of Mary Jo Kopechne if they see thisfailed attempt at humor. By not taking this into consider-ation the Pax has made all members of the BPD and BPPAlook insensitive to the thoughts and feeling of victims ev-erywhere.

As for the photo depicting the President and First Ladysaluting the flag with the wrong hand, are you serious?The original photo was taken at a commemoration on Sep-tember 11, 2009 for the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Againwhat would the victims of this horrific day in our nation’shistory think of this? To make a mockery of the leader ofour nation as he paid respect to those who lost their lives,including 23 officers of the Police Department of New YorkCity and 37 officers of the Port Authority of New York &New Jersey on that day is again unacceptable. If the pic-ture was researched before printing, it would have beennoticed that the medals on the breast of the Marine stand-ing behind the President are on the wrong side of his breast.Considering no member of the Armed Forces of this coun-try would attempt to pull off a prank as juvenile as this wehave to know that this photo has been altered. We under-stand that asking the question, “are they as dumb as theyappear” is an indirect reference to the President saying theCambridge, Massachusetts police are stupid for arrestingProfessor Henry Louis Gates in the incident which willforever be known as ‘Beer Gate,” without admittedly know-ing all the facts of the incident. As the old saying goes, “dotwo wrongs make a right?” We think that all members ofthis association would accept this photo as authentic andnot research its origins would insinuate that we as policeofficers are “clueless.” This Gentlemen is an insult to youas well as your co-workers and should not be allowed.

In closing, the ill will of the general public from articlessuch as these may never be overcome. We, as an organiza-

tion must think of this as we go about performing our du-ties as police officers and also as citizens of this City, Stateand Country. We must remember one of the most impor-tant lessons taught us, the sight picture is not only our frontand rear sights and the target we have acquired, but wemust also be aware of what is beyond the target as well.Though we understand this paper is published indepen-dent of the BPD, the public we serve may and probablydoes think otherwise. We understand that those advertisersdo not necessarily endorse all of the opinions expressed inthe Pax. It is however too easy to fall behind the FirstAmendment of the Constitution’s freedom of speech andpress clause or an editorial policy which takes no responsi-bility for unsolicited material. Gentlemen you must remem-ber that first and foremost you are members of this organi-zation not the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald or FoxNews and it is because of this association that you are mem-bers of the “press.” As members of the BPD and BPPAwhose emblems are proudly shown on the front andthroughout the Pax, we feel as though the above mentionedis in the poorest of taste. To truly represent all members of

this association, articles, cartoons and photos such as thosementioned above have no place in our paper.

In Unity there truly is strength.

Fraternally,Robert C. Young, John Bolstad, Evon Burke, Fred

Ferrara, Frank Williams, Robert Lucas, Tomas Kearney,Anthony Ortiz, Kathleen Burke, Dudley Hill, EdwardNorton, Steven Horne, Brendan Walsh, Mario Santillana,Jose Amado, Monicka Stinson, Matthew Blakeslee, MarkA. Clark, Michael Phinney, Kamil Kluziak, Walter Suprey,Andrell Jones, Julian Turner, Thomas Carty, Juan Estevez,Paul Sadatis, Carole Holmes, Lenin H. Fredrick, LennyBrown, Monica Quinonez, Robert Maclean, KamauPritchard, Christine Melia-Marini, William Sullivan, WayneBrown, Courtney Powell, Charisse Brittle-Powell, TahishaSkeen, Steve Parham, Vance Mills, Larry Welch, MylesLawton, Tyrone Smith, Kelvin Ervin, Robert England, SteveSmigliani, Manny Damberville, Troy Hartgrove, VatchelYounger, Denice Reed, Save Steward, Sarah Dorsey, EricHarden, James M. Thompson.

Thursday, March 18, 2010To the membership of the BPPA,

History tells us that on September 17th, 1787, thirty nineDelegates who attended the Constitutional Convention,signed the U.S. Constitution. Of those, only ten: GouverneurMorris, John Dickenson, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams,Thomas Paine, Edmund Randolph, James Madison, RogerSherman, James Wilson and George Wythe we are told arethe actual “writers” of the document. Morris was given theunenviable job of organizing the conversations and thoughtsof the group in a format which would be suitable for pre-sentation to the rest of the Convention.

I would never try to lead anyone to believe that any-thing I write would be as important as the Constitution ofthe United States of America. I do however hope that mypoint of reference will be understood and not misinterpreted.

As with the Constitution, the letter to the editors of thePax Centurion was written by a small group of people,myself with the input of officers of the C-6 day shift whoare Asian, Hispanic, White and Black, expressing our dis-pleasure with the direction of articles, pictures and cartoonsthat were viewed by us as negative and counter productiveto us, the BPPA, as an association and the department andcity we serve as a whole. Hoping the spirit with which theletter was written would be shared by other members ofthis bargaining unit, I not only showed it to others of thisunit, but disseminated it to others with but a few very simplerequests:

1. That only members of this bargaining unit be allowedto add their names to it.

2. That no one else be allowed to disseminate the letter.3. That the letter not be shown or given to the main-

stream media.My reasoning for these requests being the same as add-

ing the names in the first place, allowing the editors of thePax to see that these pieces being added are offensive tomore than just the “left” and giving them the opportunityto correct the problem internally. Looking back, maybe itwas my naiveté, or who knows maybe it was as a friendsuggested, ‘I’ve drank too much of the punch.’ (Since thatother just add water and sugar drink is a registered trade-mark which belongs to someone else I have refrained fromusing it.) I really thought people understood that that lettercould stand on it’s own because it looked at the issue fromall sides. It was silly of me, I guess, to think that.

Unfortunately, my wishes were not as important as theagenda of others who in their haste to forward that agendawent straight to the Massachusetts Association of Minor-ity Law Enforcement Officers and to the Boston Globe withit. As a dues paying member of M.A.M.L.E.O, I could havevery easily taken the letter to them myself if that was thepurpose. It was not. The point of the letter was to hopefully

right the ship and put it back on the original course, cham-pioning issues relevant to the patrol force directly and allsworn members of the department indirectly Instead, theonly outlet which could truly be used to the advantage ofus all is being threatened with a call for sponsors to stoptheir support. If this irrational step is taken; that leaves uswith what – the mainstream media? The Globe thoughtenough of us all to print an article about it on a Saturday,which is probably the least read day of the week and in theMetro Region section not the “front page,” allowing it toserve only as fodder for their bloggers, most of whom spewvenom at us all with the same vigor.

To the members of this bargaining unit assigned to C-6days, who I spend many of my days with and who I be-lieve elected me as their representative because I attemptto obtain as much information as possible on all sides of anissue before I make a decision which could affect us all, “Igive my applause.” The input and cooperative spirit youshared was instrumental in showing this department thatwe can not only work together, but truly like each otherwhile doing it. You will I’m sure, be glad to know I havebeen approached by dozens of officers of all races,ethnicities and political ideologies who have expressed theirapproval of “our” letter.

To those members of this bargaining unit who couldn’tsee that the letter written by us, which we “allowed you” tobe a part of, was meant to be “inclusive not divisive,” Ithank you. Without your taking it where you did, the main-stream media and the Boston Globe in particular wouldn’thave to ask the question, “Is there really a Blue Wall ofSilence”? The audacity you displayed in taking somethingthat was created independent of you and attempting to placeyour John Hancock on was nothing short of shameful. Ifyou didn’t understand the intent of that letter, or felt asthough what was said wasn’t what you believed, you couldhave followed the lead of the Delegates from the State ofRhode Island back in 1787 and abstained from participat-ing in the way requested.

As Henry M. Robert, author of Robert’s Rules of Orderso eloquently stated, “The greatest lesson for democraciesto learn is for the majority to give to the minority a full,free opportunity to present their side of a case, and then forthe minority, having failed to win a majority to their views,gracefully to submit and recognize the action as that of theentire organization and cheerfully to assist in carrying itout until they can secure it’s repeal.”

In unity there is strength.

Fraternally,

Robert C. YoungC-6 Day Rep.


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State Police. I am not going bash or slam our brothersand sisters in this organization. I have friends who areTroopers and they are great people and cops. The issue Ihave is a jurisdictional one. Why does their organizationkeep trying to take our work away, as well as from oth-ers. I know they have statewide police powers, but whydo they keep trying to take jurisdiction, which is work,from local police departments. I was told in Foxboroughthey wanted to take over all details at Gillette Stadium.In Boston, they would like to attain primary jurisdictionof the harbor. Right now the harbormaster is a superiorofficer appointed by the Boston Police Commissioner.They have attempted to pass legislation to do away withregional police academys and S.W.A.T. teams. There areroughly triple the amount of local or municipal officersin the Commonwealth opposed to 2,500 or so state po-lice officers. What if we started aggressively legislatingas a coalition to take things away from them? I am surethey as an organization would not like it. This is not athreat, just a remark. We all have to get along, especiallynow with the budgets as bad as they are. What is yours isyours, what is mine is mine; this is not a campaign ofimperialism. I do not want to fight or bicker, just getalong. Our common goal is to keep the citizens of theCommonwealth safe and provide for our families.

Next: On April 3, 2009, a vicious incident occurredin Dorchester on Navillus Terrace. A local resident de-cided to shoot at some of our members, a sergeant and atrooper assigned to the Youth Violence Strike Force. Anexchange of gunfire ensued and the suspect ended thealtercation by taking his own life. The media would likeyou to think that this person was an upstanding memberof the community who had changed his life for the bet-ter, someone who was giving back to the community.Well, he wasn’t! He was a problem in the communityand had been for sometime. It is time for the media toacknowledge that people who try and murder police of-ficers are usually not nice people. They make excusesfor bad behavior and sociopathic tendencies and nowthe media is reporting that he had mental problems. Hedid, he was as crazy as a fox! Sometimes people are justinherently bad. The media likes to gin-up the effectedcommunities with half-stories and quotes from familymembers. What family member would talk in a nega-tive about another? They usually don’t. Now for thosemembers of the community who like to cause problemsand not solve them, the police department owes you noth-ing. Manny DeViega tried to murder four human be-ings on that night. The District Attorney’s Office, theCommissioner’s Office and the Department, on a wholehave been very transparent in the investigative process(fact). The family and community are entitled to a fairand impartial investigation. And that is what they aregetting. The officers involved did an exemplary job andthey all went home to their families and that is the nameof the game. It is easy to Monday-morning quarterbacka situation. So for the reporters, who may read this ar-ticle in the comfort of a safe office, think before youwrite your next story. How about doing some researchon the topic and print the facts or better yet the, truth. Ican remember a time when the newspapers in this cityactually reported facts and not fiction. Reporters actu-ally wanted both sides of an issue. Right now the City ofBoston has two newspapers, the Herald and the Globe,or for the purposes of journalistic integrity, the Star andthe National Enquirer.

Now in closing, remember, watch each other’s backsand keep your guard up. The name of the game, onceagain is to go home safe. And to ALL who responded tothe incident on Navillus Terrace, YOU did a great job.

Thanks to the advertisersfor supportingBPPA’s charitable efforts…(continued from page A4)

BPPA President Nee urges NO PAROLEfor Nassau County, New York

Cop Killer

“We know the players. We know the neighborhoods,”James Barry of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Associationtold the State House News Service. “The way the bill is writ-ten, unless we assign 400-500 state troopers to police thesevenues 24/7/365, the criminal that assaults, robs or rapes some-body in the casino is going to be free and clear. Ignored andinsulted is the local cop that will be dealing with the mess ofcrime inside that gaming venue that will spill out into thelocal communities.” Chris Collins, President of the Las Ve-gas Police Union stated that in the City of Las Vegas, it isVegas PD that answer all 911 calls to all the gaming venueson the Vegas Strip. Handbag snatches, assaults and unrulydrunks are common crimes for casinos and the local police,be it Boston or Las Vegas.

Barry said police groups do not quarrel with the proposedState Police gaming unit included in the bill, but believe localpolice should retain jurisdiction they currently have at gam-bling venues such as Suffolk Downs, Wonderland Park,Plainridge Racecourse and Raynham Park. Jurisdiction

amendment are being pushed on the floor by Rep. MartinWalsh and backed by the Massachusetts Police Associa-tion, MassCOP, IBPO and other police groups.

Update at press timeThe fight over jurisdiction will move to the Senate

side of the building, as the language passed by the Housewould allow for MOU agreements with local and statepolice agencies battling out jurisdiction. The only goodnews is the “exclusivity” word is now out.

Rep. Marty Walsh of Dorchester was outstanding in hisdiehard support of jurisdiction and every municipal policeofficer in the State should thank him. He stood tall andnever wavered in his belief in local jurisdiction. No sur-prise as Marty has been a fighter not only for this jurisdic-tion but for all our issues including details, health care andcollective bargaining. We all owe him.

Police groups lobby for jurisdiction…(continued from page A1)


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RECENT CASE SUMMARYFACTS: Officer injured on-duty when police vehicle struck by suspect avoiding arrest.Officer was disabled and collected IOD pay and medical bills were paid under c.41 s.111F.Officer recovered and returned to full duty.

CASE: Officer sought free legal consultation and pursued claims against the vehicle operatorand owner – and under his personal auto policy – for lost detail and overtime pay, andcompensation for pain and suffering.

OUTCOME: Officer received gross recovery of: $8,000 in Personal Injury Protection and$10,000 in additional medical payment benefits, $20,000 insurance policy limits for thedefendant operator and owner, and $80,000 in Underinsured Motorist benefits.

ATTORNEY: Scott Goldberg

If you have been injured you may have a case.Attorney Goldberg provides free consultations.

The law firm only receives a fee if we recover compensation for you.And we give police officers a 10% discount off our general public legal fees.

Contact Attorney Scott Goldberg at 617-227-1888 or [email protected].

THE LAW FIRM OF SCOTT D. GOLDBERG, P.C.Assisting and Representing Police Officers Since 1990

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Many police departments do a miser-able job of marketing for new re-

cruits. That failing bears as much responsi-bility for the so-called “cop crunch’’ facingMassachusetts and the nation as any trepi-dation about careers in law enforcement.

In 1997, almost 22,000 candidates took theCivil Service examination required to becomea police officer in Massachusetts. A decadelater, the number of test takers fell by almosthalf. A stable career on a police departmentshould be attracting a lot of interest in a downeconomy. Yet it’s not. And police departmentsare especially concerned now that many vet-eran officers are reaching retirement age.

Police departments can counteract thistrend. In 2005, for example, only 1,345 can-didates took the exam for the Boston Po-lice. But the applicant pool nearly doubledto 2,548 two years later. And it wasn’t be-cause of a magical desire to protect and serve.In the months leading up to the 2007 Civil Ser-

Globe editorial: Better marketing,outreach can cure the ‘cop crunch’

vice test, the Boston Police conducted anaggressive campaign for new recruits.

The “Many Jobs, One Career,’’ campaignreached Bostonians - including linguisticand ethnic minorities - at bus shelters, com-munity centers, and colleges. The postersfeatured officers working in bicycle patrols,family justice centers, and crime scene units,as well as neighborhood policing. The mes-sage came across that police careers couldbe as good a fit for mothers with childrenas people with military backgrounds.

The Boston Police didn’t mount a simi-lar campaign in the months before thespring, 2009 Civil Service test. The effectwas immediate. The applicant pool fell backto 1,228, even below the 2005 level.

The state needs to pay notice, too. CivilService officials could help alleviate the“cop crunch’’ by adjusting the testing sched-ule, says Edward Callahan, deputy directorof the Boston Police Bureau of Adminis-tration and Technology. Local departments,he says, can’t plan properly if tethered to a

test that is given only once every two years.An annual test would make more sense. Andrecruitment in low-income areas would besignificantly easier, says Callahan, if CivilService lowered or waived the $100 test fee.

Law enforcement careers are honorableand multifaceted. The pay isn’t bad, either,especially with opportunities for overtimeand details. But sometimes it still requiresa harder sell.

(Reprinted from the Boston Globe, Fri-day, February 12, 2010.)

Dear Editor,On behalf of thousands of Boston and

municipal police officers, I would like tonote the extreme hypocrisy contained inyour editorial of Friday, Feb. 12th (“Bettermarketing, outreach, can cure the “cop

…and our response!crunch”) regarding the problem of attract-ing enough qualified candidates to becomepolice officers.

First and foremost, the Globe has repeat-edly cheered Gov. Deval Patrick’s destruc-tion of the Quinn bill, an educational incentiveplan for police officers in place since 1970,even as you call for entry-level officers to berequired to have college degrees for hiring.

You then speak of “…pay which isn’tbad…especially with opportunities for de-tails and overtime…” even as you call forthe elimination of police details and cur-tailing of overtime. With such incongruouspositions, do you really wonder why so feweducated, qualified candidates are applyingfor positions as police officers?

Also, you mention that “…police careerscould be as good a fit for mothers with chil-dren as people with military backgrounds.”Your well-known disdain for the militarynotwithstanding, please notify your pre-ferred “mothers-with-children” whom youwould have apply over military veterans thatthe police job does not entail a 9-5, Mon-day thru Friday schedule, “sitting-behind-adesk” situation but instead requires theworking of midnight shifts, holidays and week-ends, in dangerous and difficult conditions. Thepolice job is not as easy as our elitist BostonGlobe editorialists presuppose it to be…

– James W. CarnellBoston Police Patrolmen’s Association

Area A-1 representative

Dear Mr. Noah Bierman,I wish to respond to you in regards to

the police detail story you wrote for Sun-day, February 28, 2010’s Boston Globe. Imust tell you that in your writing storieslike this, about police details, you keep upthe anti-policing attitude and continue thetrend of turning the public AWAY from thepolice instead of turning them towards of-ficers to help them. Then the Globe con-tinually questions and wants to know whyno one ever wants to provide informationto the police to help them solve homicidesor other crimes.

Police officers go and do what no oneelse wants to, and they see and deal withmore death and destruction of human lifein one week then most will ever see in theirentire lifetime, with most of these dedicatedofficers earning a base salary less than thatof a store manager at McDonald’s.

It is extremely unfortunate that yourpublication continues to day in and dayout, do the law enforcement communitya great disservice every time you publishstories like this, and then don’t run all thestories about all the extra benefits andsituations when a life has been saved or acrime has been stopped due to an officeron a detail.

Your own story that you reported aboutin yesterday’s Globe reports that flaggers“are more expensive” but now the statehighway department wants to look into thissituation that you investigated. You reportedhow a flagger costs $48 an hour but a po-lice officer only costs $40 an hour. And nowbecause of your story, now the highwaydepartment wants to switch to using moreflaggers and less police officers, which inreturn will COST MORE (using your ownwords) and take more police officers off ofour streets. This statement just made me

Letter to the Boston Globe:

Re: Police detailsscratch my head. So the state wants to spendeven more money on this project then byswitching over to flagers?

The above statement indicates thatclearly this is not about saving money, butwhat it is about, is carrying on the anti-po-licing attitude against the police and turn-ing even more people away from the policeand making them hate the police even morethen they do now.

I would also send this email to theGlobe’s “letters to the editor section” aswell, but I know as they have every othertime I have wrote them on situations likethis in the past, will refuse to publish myletter thereby prohibiting “the other side”from having a voice in this matter. As theysay their are always “two sides to the story”,it is just unfortunate that the Globe continu-ally only reports about one of them and thatbeing how the cops “are always ripping us off.”

It’s funny how someone playing “agame” making 30 million dollars a year forsix months a year of “work” (i.e. playing abaseball game) is “okay” and acceptableto everyone, but god for bid the person whois going to rush to my aid and risk his or hervery life for a stranger at 4 o’clock in themorning when they call 911, made 100Klast year to support his family and put hiskids through college, is a BIG story to amulti-state publication.

In ending, I am sure that the families ofWeymouth Police Officer Michael Daveyand Middleton Police Sgt. Edward Cou-ture as well as the other 15-plus familiesfrom Massachusetts who lost their mom ordad that was a police officer killed whileworking a detail, truly “enjoyed” readingyour article. A article telling them that whattheir loved one died for, was far to “expen-sive” to this commonwealth....

– Paul Cotter

Dear Yvonne,Per past history, I don’t expect a response

from you, but on behalf of voiceless policeofficers who often have to keep their mouthsshut and bite their tongues, I’d like to com-ment on your article “No money to savelives” (Boston Globe, Sunday, April 11th)regarding the attempted murder of severalpolice officers by Manuel DaVeiga.

Of course you, and most of fellow Globereporters who see everything through therose-colored prism of liberalism and rac-

Letters to the Boston Globe:

Re: No moneyto save lives

ism see this as a tragic story of not enoughresources for poor, underprivileged inner-city children. As a city kid who grew up inMattapan and still lives just a few milesaway, I have always found it amusing –though infuriating – to hear comments andread articles from caring liberals who re-side in lily-white, rich suburbs such as New-ton, Brookline, Wellesley and Concord talk-ing about issues such as “racism” and “po-lice brutality” and “inner-city gang vio-


Dear Editor,On behalf of hundreds of Boston police

officers, I strongly object to the tone andinferences contained in YvonneAbraham’s column “No money to savelives” (Boston Globe, April 11, 2010).

Par for the liberal course, Abraham in-fers that the police are somehow, somewayto blame for Manuel DaVeiga’s death.There is virtually no mention of the bulletsfired at the police and the terror that theyexperienced while being at shot by this 19-year old scumbag. Instead, Abraham lec-tures us about “shattered trust in the policeamongst some residents” and that“[DaVeiga’s] friends don’t believe he shothimself or fired first.”

Quite frankly, if “the community” wantsto build trust, perhaps they could tell theirgun-toting, gang-banging criminals thatshooting at the police is a poor way to be-gin. It seems to be standard practice forGlobe journalists to begin every story withthe assumption that the police are somehowwrong, and then build the article from thatpremise. It’s disgusting, it’s infuriating andit’s dead-wrong. DaVeiga – and the culturethat spawned him – should be condemnedand the officers should be applauded fortheir heroic actions that night.


Area A-1 Representative

� � � � � � � � � �


lence.” Spare us, please…I never read in your article one ounce of concern or com-

passion about the police officers who were shot at and nearlykilled by DaViega. I gather that you and your fellow scribesfeel that being shot at, assaulted, kicked and spit at is “partof our jobs,” right, Yvonne? We’re supposed to be “trained”in how to dodge bullets being fired by a gang-banger, right?

No, what I read in your article is the following drivel:…“Good community policing, for starters. If a neighbor-hood trusts the police, they feel safer, crimes tend to getsolved, and the place is less likely to be run by armies met-ing out their form of justice.”… “DaVeiga’s death has shat-tered trust in the police among some residents…his friendsdon’t believe DaVeiga shot himself and don’t believe hefired first. Justified or not, that skepticism is enormouslydamaging to whatever tenuous relations police had withhis community.”

Really, Yvonne? Perhaps the police officers should haveallowed themselves to have been shot or killed to satisfy“community relations?” Would that have made the gang-banger “community” feel better? Quite frankly, if “the com-munity” wishes to build trust, then perhaps they shouldinstruct their little miscreants that carrying guns and shoot-ing at police officers is a poor way to begin the process. Itseems to us in law enforcement that the knee-jerk positionof most journalists is always to “blame the police”, insteadof condemning the culture, the conduct, the community,and yes, the individual that caused the incident in the firstplace.

In closing, thanks for letting us know “It’s going to be avery long summer.” We who patrol the streets know thatalready, Yvonne. Perhaps you and your concerned liberalfriends could organize daily bus trips for our gang-bangersto the Chestnut Hill Mall, or Wellesley town common, orperhaps shopping trips to Coolidge Corner? I’m sure thatfresh, suburban air and counseling from concerned liber-als would work wonders for our misguided, underprivi-leged youths. Perhaps allowing our “at-risk” youths to at-tend your wealthy, superb suburban schools (free-of-charge,naturally) might help, also.

And we’d certainly get a kick out of it, even thoughyour own local police departments might not….


Area A-1 Representative� � � � � � � � � �

Dear James,I always try to respond. I’m not sympathetic to Junior

DaVeiga. All the info we have so far indicates he is theonly person to blame for his own death. And based on theinfo we have, I have no criticisms of the officers involvedin the shootout. None whatsoever. I don’t envy them theirincredibly dangerous duties, and I am grateful to them forperforming them. Never once did I suggest that the police

officers were to blame for the incident. But that doesn’tmean it isn’t also a setback to community relations, eventhough I think the family and friends of DaVeiga are wronghere. Finally, it is possible to both abhor the violence, (and,for that matter, to be supportive of the police who have toface it every day) and to want to find ways to stop it. Oth-erwise, police will be shot at by kids like da Veiga intoeternity. None of us wants that.

The column was about the bigger picture. DaVeiga wasthe hook, not the focus. You may have noticed Kevin Cullendid a terrific column focused on DaVeiga the same day.

In any case, thanks so much for taking the time to write.I’m sorry you didn’t like the column.

Best,Yvonne Abraham

The Boston Globe� � � � � � � � � �

Dear Yvonne,Thank you for responding. It isn’t so much that I “didn’t

like the column” but that so many – including virtually alljournalists – forget the police officers who have to put upwith crap from “the community” every night of the weekand then are expected to dodge bullets, only to be second-guessed and criticized later by Monday morning quarter-backs who sit safely behind their computers on MorrisseyBlvd. and Herald Sq. (Gelzinis, et al). I am still waiting forsome alleged journalist to present a view from this side ofthe badge. Those officers who were shot at saw their livesflash in front of them, and NO journalist – at least as far asI have read – has shown an ounce of compassion or con-cern for what they went through. I am writing an article formy own Pax Centurion newspaper – which is obviouslytargeted to a select audience (my own) – entitled “Sympa-thy for the Devil” about this very issue. Screw ManuelDaViega, his family, and “the community,” whatever thatis, that supports him. You shoot at a cop, expect what comesback at you. On behalf of all police everywhere, I’m goinghome tonight, and I’d rather be judged by 12, than carriedby 6.


Re: No money to save lives…(continued from page A15)

By James Carnell, Pax Editor

While performing a paid detail recently, (ahhm, ex-cuse me, according to our critics, I should say “a

LUCRATIVE paid detail”) I happened to look down at asewer cover and saw something very disturbing. The sewercover was stamped “MADE IN INDIA” and had beenmade by a General Foundries Company. As I looked around,I noted other items, water and sewer covers, utility plates,etc., that also said “Made in India.”

I know sewers don’t exactly excite anyone, but think of

Why the U.S. is going downthe sewer

Take a look under your feet…it: we no longer make even the simplest things in this coun-try. Years ago, foundries and metal works plants would havemade these items, providing decent manufacturing jobsfor blue-collar workers and their families. Today, they’remade overseas where a child-laborer in Mumbai orCalcutta probably gets about three rupees a day for work-ing in a foundry.

When a country no longer makes its own sewer covers,perhaps you can see why that’s exactly where we’re head-ing: down the sewer.

Attention:To all members of the Boston Police Relief Association –Active Duty or RetiredIf you need to change your beneficiary or you are not sure of who yourbeneficiary is you can contact the relief office at 617-364-9565. If you leavea message your call will be returned and if necessary the paperwork willbe sent out to you.

Thank you,William F. Carroll, Clerk, Boston Police Relief Association

Funding for Quinn Billstill on life support…(continued from page A3)

candidates themselves. In the aftermath of the mortgagescam and a struggling economy the electorate was not buy-ing what the President was selling. Having the ability tostop the possibility of another trillion dollar boondoggle,with the passing on of what some consider an unfundedmandate to the next generation, the electorate voted ac-cordingly for Scott Brown. Having to live within yourmeans is something that every family understands duringthese times, especially police officers whose negotiatedbenefits are being politically parleyed.

Close to having a supermajority in DC, the legislatorscould not help themselves in pressing forward for the pos-sibility of 30 million new, beholden health care recipients.With the immigration bill coming up for a vote in the nearfuture…the feeling is that it can only help to further so-lidify that voter base. November is shaping up to be aninteresting month for midterm elections with very few with-out a strong opinion as to the current direction of our coun-try.

Health BenefitComparison

BPPA attorney Amy Davidson compares a City of Bos-ton plan with the state’s GIC plan which is a must

read and can be found in one of the following pages. Dif-ferences include the introduction of deductibles and sharpincreases in out of pocket expenses. These increases willcontinue to go up annually to offset any increases from thehealth care providers. In comparing these GIC prices withhealth plans around the country, some deductibles are upto $2,000 annually and the list of procedures are itemized,page after page in the collective bargaining agreements.Medical costs will continue to grow until the medical costsand insurance increases are regulated.


BPPA RETIRED PATROLMEN’S DIVISION

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONDate: ___________________________

Name: ______________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________

City, State, Zip: ______________________________________________

Home Phone: ____________________ Cell Phone: ________________

Date of Appointment: _________ Date of Retirement: ___________

Email: ______________________________________________________

Annual Dues are $24.00. The year runs from March to March.

Please mail this application and $24.00 annual dues to the:BPPA Retired Patrolmen’s Division

9-11 Shetland Street, Boston, MA 02119

Retiree HealthCare Benefits:How Medicaremay affect you

Directors of theRetired

Patrolmen’sDivision of the

BPPA:John MurphyDavid MackinJoe VannelliJoe O’MalleyBilly Flippin

BPPA Retired Patrolmen’s DivisionNews

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617-265-2665

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By Amy Laura DavidsonSandulli Grace, PC

Counsel to the BPPA

The City Council is currently consider-ing adopting Section 18a of G.L. c.

32B, a local option law which would be-come effective July 1, 2010. The purposeof Section 18a is to ensure that the federalgovernment is paying for medical costs thatare authorized under Medicaid, instead ofthe City. In order to qualify for coverageunder Section 18a, you must be “Medicare-eligible”. In order to be Medicare-eligible,you or your spouse:

• Must have worked for at least 10 yearsin Medicare-covered employment

• You are retired and 65 years oldThe law provides that the City must

maintain comparable health care coveragefor all retirees – whether or not they areMedicare-eligible. The pertinent provisionsof Section 18a are as follows:

Section 18 is a state law that, whenadopted, requires Medicare-eligible retirees,spouses and dependents (“retirees”) to en-roll in a Medicare supplemental plan (“Se-nior” plan).

Section 18a only applies to future retir-ees, who retire after the date of adoption.

Medicare eligible retirees will be cov-ered by Medicare, plus City-sponsoredMedicare supplemental plan (“seniorplan”).

Under the law, the City is required to of-fer at least one City-sponsored senior planthat, together with Medicare offers benefitscomparable to non-Medicare plan – i.e. tothe active employee health plans.

Retirees who have dependants on a fam-ily plan who are not Medicare-eligible (i.e.a younger spouse or dependent children) areexempt from Section 18a. They will be per-mitted to stay on the active employee health

plan until all their dependants are Medicare-eligible.

Once the retiree’s spouse becomes Medi-care-eligible, both the retiree and theirspouse will be required to enroll in Medi-care and one of the City’s senior health plans.

In addition to Medicare, you will enrollin one of the City’s senior health plans.These plans, also known as “Medicarewrap-around” plans provide additional cov-erage, such as prescription drug coverageso that the health benefits for retirees arecomparable to active employee health plans.Currently there are six senior plans, threeBlue Cross plans, two Tufts plans, andHarvard First Seniority.

Officers and their Medicare eligiblespouses who are required to move intoMedicare will be required to pay 50% ofthe Medicare Part B premium – which cur-rently is $55/month. Their Medicare-eli-gible spouses will also be required to enrollin Medicare. The retiree also will be re-quired to pay fifteen percent of the premiumof the Medicare wrap-around plan that theyselect. Although officers will be required topay two premiums, the transfer into Medi-care by and large results in a savings overthe premiums paid for active employeeplans. For example, officers on a Blue CareElect family plan who transfers into Medi-care and the Blue Cross Senior plan wouldsave $167 a month. At this point, Section18a has not yet been adopted. If it is adopted,it will only affect officers who retire afterJuly 1, 2010. If you fall into that category,you should discuss your insurance optionswith the Brian Reaney or David Fitz-gerald, the BPPA’s insurance counselors.


Boston Police Officers Killed in the Line of

Gravestone photo credits: Patrolman Jackson by Robert Strand, Patrolman Louie Metaxas by Officer Greg Bardwell,Patrolman Oginskis by Elaine & Catherine Poulin, and Patrolman Bray by Officer Jeff McLaughlin.


Duty By Ray Melo

Rest in peace our brave fallen brothers.

You are gone, but not forgotten.


Compliments of


They Served WithDignity and Honor

We Shall Not Forget Them

We apologize for any errors or omissions.

Police DetectiveRobert E. Lawler

March 1, 2010

Police OfficerJohn V. Bellino

March 11, 2010

Police SergeantRaymond E. Wood

March 10, 2010

Police OfficerJohn M. King

March 20, 2010

Police OfficerPaul F. Curley

March 26, 2010

Police DetectivePaul E. Martin

April 6, 2010

Police OfficerJohn J. Craven

March 26, 2010

Police OfficerEdward D. Crowley

April 6, 2010


Tishman Speyer Properties recognizes the contributionsand efforts the Boston Police Officers provide to

ensure public safety.

We thank you for making Boston a better place.

THE LAW OFFICES OFDONALD E. GREEN, P.C.

Don Green is a Quincy native and 1957 graduate of Quincy High School.After high school, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and returnedto Quincy after being honorably discharged.

In 1966, working out of the Quincy Police Boy’s Club. he became thelight-heavyweight Golden Gloves Champion in Lowell. He boxed in theAmateurs for three years.

In 1968, he joined the Boston Police Department and retired in 1990 afterserving the city for nearly 22 years, the last 15 years as a Sergeant in theRoxbury district. He graduated from both Northeastern University andNortheastern University School of Law.

The first Law Offices of Donald E. Green was opened in Boston in 1982and the second in Dudley Square in Roxbury in 1988. The most recent office was opened in Braintree in2001 and is located at 222 Forbes Road, Suite 200, which is located across from the South Shore Plazaand behind the Sheraton Tara Hotel. This office offers a convenient location for Quincy and other SouthShore residents. There is free parking and the office is handicapped accessible.

Don’s law partner is his wife, Annette Hill Green, who grew up in Dorchester and is also a graduate ofNortheastern School of Law. They married in 1997, have two young children and reside in Milton.

The Law Offices of Donald E. Green is dedicated toserving your legal needs. The professional staff includesseasoned trial attorneys who possess years of litigationexperience and who strive to obtain the most favorablejudgment, verdict or settlement for our clients.

We are a full-service law firm, concentrating in, but notlimited to, the following areas of law:

• Wrongful death • Medical Malpractice• Personal Injury • Sexual Harassment – Motor Vehicle Accidents • Employment Discrimination – Slip and Fall Accidents • Immigration – Worker’s Compensation • Bankruptcy – Lead Poisoning • Criminal Defense

Two free legal clinics are offered from 5:00-6:00 pm on the first and third Wednesdayof each month at our Roxbury office. Each clinic offers free, private consultationsregarding all legal matters.

Boston 2235 Washington Street 222 Forbes Road, Suite 200(617) 523-4422 Roxbury, MA 02119 Braintree, MA 02184

By appointment only (Dudley Sq.) (Across from South Shore Plaza) (617) 442-0050 (781) 356-0488

By appointment only

Evening and Weekend Appointments Available Home and Hospital Appointments Available

A reduced legal fee is continuously offered to police officers and has been for more than twenty-five (25)years. Our office has successfully represented countless law enforcement officers in their personal injuryclaims (on or off duty) and other legal matters. Don Green

If you have any legal questions or concerns, please call Don or Annette toll free at 1-877-DON-GREENor you may email Don directly at [email protected].

Don Green Annette Hill Green



www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • March/April 2010 • Page B1

PAXCENTURION Section BPAXCENTURION Section B

By James Barry,BPPA Legislative Agent

HEARDONTHEHILL

Police Training Fee Falling Short

The House is striking a $6 increase in motor vehicle inspection fees. The increase wouldhave added an additional $27 million onto drivers and helped fund local police training.

The Municipalities and Regional Government Committee version would have increased in-spection fees on motor vehicles by $6 to $35, with proceeds from the more than 20 percentfee hike dedicated to municipal police training.

This retreat comes after Gov. Deval Patrick’s original legislation encountered publicoutrage earlier this year. Governor Deval Patrick’s language injected the Massachusetts StatePolice into the municipal package. The State Police would split the proceeds of this revenue(50/50) with the local police and through language be granted a class of at least 100 newtroppers each and every year. The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police first proposed this legisla-tion to train local police some many years ago. The Chiefs have the responsibility of trainingover 7000 sworn law enforcement officers across the state. This fee through legislation isneeded and should be passed. The Governor needs to find other ways of funding the classesof the State Police and stop his continuing attacks on the local police.

Casino Amendments filedBy Jim Barry, BPPA Legislative Agent

Casinos are coming and this time you can bet the house on it. The leadership of the BPPA, BPDBS, and BPSOF met a few weeks back as

this casino train was getting ready to load up for debate. The former Speaker TomFinneran for the Superior Officers, Michael Muse with the Detectives and JimBarry of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association were charged with the re-sponsibility to work on language and strategy on the issues we face. We not onlyhad to look at funding, but also jurisdictional issues that we identified in the Ca-sino Bill. It has been said at every BPPA meeting for the last year that any and allefforts will be undertaken to make us whole again with regards to our EducationalIncentive from the Commonwealth. This Casino Bill was the perfect opportunityto utilize some new revenues to be received by the Commonwealth to fund theeducational incentive. Our strategy was to get amendments into debate for thefunding portion of our needs. Yet we also had to face language in the legislationthat dealt with jurisdiction. The way the bill is written, all criminal violations are tobe handled exclusively by the Massachusetts State Police. This exclusivity of ju-risdiction is a slap in the face to every Municipal Police Officer (6576) in theCommonwealth. No law enforcement agency in the Commonwealth of Massa-chusetts should ever be granted exclusive jurisdiction anywhere.

The BPPA wishes to thank Rep. Gene O’Flaherty (D-Chelsea) and Rep.Martin Walsh (D-Boston) for their steadfast support. Rep. Walsh has told theSpeaker personally of his concerns over the jurisdictional issue with the Mass.State Police.

The following are the exact language filed as amendments to the Casino Bill:Mr. O’Flaherty of Chelsea moves to amend the bill by adding the following

section:SECTION 77. Section 1. Quinn Bill Study Commission. There is hereby es-

tablished a Special Commission to investigate and report on the feasibility of es-tablishing and maintaining a revised law enforcement career educational incentiveprogram. Said Commission shall file its report and recommendations, if any, byJanuary 15, 2011. Said Commission may elect to extend the deadline for the filingof its report to no later than March 1, 2011. The Commission shall file its reportwith the Clerks of the House and Senate, the Governor, the Speaker of the House,the President of the Senate, the Chairpersons of the House and Senate Committeeson Ways and Means, and the Chairpersons of the Joint Committee on Public Safety.

Section 2. The Commission shall consider all matters related to education in-centives for law enforcement personnel and shall specifically report on the feasi-bility and anticipated benefits of (1) establishing minimum educational qualifica-tion for all police officers hired after July 1, 2011; (2) the substitution of an annualfixed sum to be paid as career incentive compensation for bachelor’s, master’s, anddoctorate degrees in place of the existing salary percentages contained in M.G.L.chapter 108-L; (3) the establishment of continuing periodic educational require-ments in order to maintain eligibility for career educational incentive compensa-tion; and (4) the role and responsibility of the Board of Higher Education in re-viewing and approving the adequacy, relevance, rigor, and content of approvedpolice educational incentive degree programs.

Section 3. The Commission shall be made up of a designee of the Governor,three members of the House to be appointed by the Speaker, three members of theSenate to be appointed by the Senate President, a designee of the Mass. MunicipalAssociation, a designee of the Mass. Mayors’ Association, a designee of the Boardof Higher Education, and two designees of the professional law enforcement com-munity, retired or active, as recommended by a coalition of public safety organiza-tions comprised of the following: Mass COP, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Asso-ciation, the Mass. Police Association, the I.B.P.O., the Mass. Police Chiefs Asso-ciation, the Boston Police Superior Officers’ Association, and the Boston PoliceDetectives’ Association. If, within fifteen (15) days of the passage of this act, saidcoalition fails to recommend said law enforcement professionals as designees tothe Commission, then the Governor shall appoint two law enforcement profes-sionals, retired or active, to said Special Commission. The Senate President shalldesignate one of the three Senate appointees to act as Chairman of the Commis-sion.

Mr. O’Flaherty of Chelsea moves to amend the bill in section 11, in line 84,by inserting after the word “unit” the words: “that shall include members of thepolice departments of the host communities.”

Mr. O’Flaherty of Chelsea moves to amend the bill in section 12, in line 2290,by striking out the words “or any activity taking place on the premises of a gam-ing establishment” and inserting after the word “licensee” the words: “or anyother person”.

Annual Boston PolicePatrolmen’s AssociationRecognition BanquetHonoring BPPA Retirees andBPPA Award RecipientsFriday, June 18th, 2010Cocktail Hour 6:00 – 7:00PM – Plaza Lobby$70.00 per personSeaport Hotel200 Seaport BoulevardBoston – Plaza BallroomContact your BPPARepresentative or callthe BPPA for more information.

BPPA 2009-2010 RetireesCharles Dickerson, B3George Higgins, E5David Walter, EMDRichard Gonsalves, B2Robert Gill, Paid DetailsRobert Minton, E5Robert Saitta, D4Francis Griffiths, D4Robert Butler, D4Mario Simons, A1William Kennedy, Court UnitWayne McNamara, B3George Thomas, E13

Sheila O’Shea, C6Charles Bogues, C11William Hogan, C6John Connors, B2Albert Montgomery, B2Patricia Skeen, A1William Riley, A7Monica Brown Rogers, C11Mark Corbett, E13Thomas Mitchell, Court UnitWilliam Barkowsky, Building Security

Catherine Crowley, RangeRaymond Withrow, E13Charles Hulme, B3Robert Cappucci, C6Danny Chau, A1Thomas J. Garneau, E5Richard Forest, EMSCheryl Frazier, EMSGary Roy, EMS

(continued on page B7)

HEARDONTHEHILL

Page B2 • PAX CENTURION • March/April 2010 617-989-BPPA (2772)


4th Annual BPD Commissioner’s CupThe 4th Annual Boston Police Commissioner’sCup Hockey Tournament was held last weekat the Roche Arena. A great week of hockeyand friendship ended with Area C beatingArea B and Area A beating Headquarters.The championship game pitted a tiredArea C team against Area A.Area A eventually defeated Area C for asuccessful defense of their title.Special thanks to Billy Hubbard for all thehard work that goes with organizing thistournament.

Gerard Bailey and Pat Cullitytake the ceremonial face off from

Superintendent Evans.

Jamie Kenneallyof Headquarters

Steve Merrick and Jeff Tobin ofSpecial Operations

The players gave a great effortin the 4th Annual BPD

Commissioner’s Cup Tournament


THANK YOU

FOR

YOUR GOOD WORK

Best Wishes to theBoston Police

Patrolmen’s Association

REGIMENT CAPITAL ADVISORS, LP222 Berkeley Street, 12th Floor

Boston, MA 02116Tel. 617-488-1600

Email: [email protected]

Off the top of my headBy Kevin Doogan

Trying to stay current with what’s beingreported in the media, I find myself with

more questions than answers with regardsto the recent Bullying Legislation and me-dia attention. Yet in all the media accountsand in the Legislative attempts at updatinglaws I see nothing of parenting.

Now I’d like to comment on this poorchild in South Hadley that by all accountstook her own life because of incessant bul-lying by her peers. I haven’t seen one writ-ten or verbal account that attempts to ex-plain the situation except for placing blameon school officials and classmates.

Now I’m not sure of what was the rootcause of this attention towards this poorchild, but why is the media dancing aroundsome pretty significant apparent facts. Whyare two young men charged with StatutoryRape? As we all know Statutory Rape oc-curs when a child under 16 years of ageconsents to relations with another.

Now if it was forcible rape it would becharged as rape, if it was drug induced rapeit would be charged as such. Just the factthat Statutory Rape charges were issuedleads me to believe this was action not ma-licious by nature. What I’m reading betweenthe lines here is that this child consented tohave relations with others of her same agebracket and did so with others that were inrelationships with other girl(s).

Now looking at the photos of the younggirl she doesn’t appear overweight, knock-kneed, cross-eyed, geeky, and meek or anyof the usual criteria for bullies. Could thisbe a case of a young lady trying to fit in bybecoming sexually active with other girl’sboyfriends? Could this alleged bullying be

other young ladies ostracizing and con-demning her actions and behavior by pub-licizing her promiscuity? If this is so, then Iask where were this girl’s parents or guard-ians?

If cyber-bullying was the case why wasthis young girl allowed and continued tohave internet access? Why would the par-ent of someone overcome with insults andcondemnation continue to allow her to ab-sorb such punishment without interceding?

It seems to me that as tragic as this younggirl’s suicide is, this action is a cold mirrorof truth to our “No fault, No responsibility”society. The law enforcement kneejerk re-action to this is solely because of the me-dia attention. To charge the other juve-niles involved in this incident for bully-ing or harassment is feudal. When in re-ality, nothing other than some public hu-mility and bloodletting is going to hap-pen to these kids.

The juvenile laws in this State are a joke.They’ll sacrifice a few of the kids and theirfamilies to quench the public blood thirst.

In my opinion, in the end, those whotruly bear the blame in this matter are ab-sentee parents, guardians as well as the in-dividuals themselves that lower their stan-dards, as well as their trousers and makeimmoral decisions that all too often resultin teen pregnancy, single parent children oraborted children.

It seems to me that this poor child mayhave had more issues on her plate than whatis being sensationalized in the media.

The trouble is, people aren’t taught ordon’t realize, that suicide is a permanentsolution to a temporary problem. God resther soul!

Enough with hero worshipBy Kevin Doogan

Enough already with the constant ridicu-lousness about Tiger Woods and his

infidelities. Besides his wife and family,why should we care how many times heviolated his marriage vows? The man isn’ta role model, isn’t a hero, he’s just a verytalented golfer, no more, no less.

Please, enough with the dramatics andthe poor Elin press articles, she knew, orshould have known, what she was marry-ing when she married the man. Please, likewith any high-profile job or celebrity, famecomes with a price, but for the public tobuy into this stupidity only encourages thisbehavior. It is very fickle, the moral code ofconduct that society sets.

In a society where no-one is held respon-sible for their actions, it kills me how sensa-tionalized these celebrity cheating scandals get.

Again the media is saturated with acountless bevy of beauties actually claim-ing to have had relations with Tiger. Longgone are the days of shame. Imagine yearsago, a woman would be labeled a whore ora home-wrecker, ostracized by polite soci-ety or way back in history the pair wouldbe flogged with the woman wearing theScarlet letter.

Today, it’s a badge of honor for these low

moral harlots. The media is playing up thatBuick has canceled Tiger’s endorsementcontract, again I ask, who cares? The guy isa multi millionaire; do you think he caresabout anyone but himself? If you do, you’recrazy. Are there any weak-minded moronsstill making purchases because a celebritysays so?

This is the never ending story through-out history, O.J. Simpson kills his wife andher friend, Shoeless Joe Jackson throwsthe World Series, President Bill Clintonlies before Congress and the AmericanPeople, Jack Kennedy cheated on Jackie,pick a sport, pick a genre and their mostfamous people have skeletons in their clos-ets. Please spare me the theatrics, O.J.walked free from First Degree Murder,Clinton was impeached but never lost hisjob, they even elected his wife, U.S. Sena-tor and now she’s Secretary of State.

When will society grow up and placetheir faith and admiration into those in so-ciety worthy of such adulation such as ourEmergency Response Personnel, our ArmedServices, our Prosecutors, our Teachers andmost importantly, our parents. Those whoactually parent! Anyone can have a child,but judging by society very few seem to beable to raise children.


Legal Notes: Amy Laura Davidson, Esq.Sandulli Grace, P.C., Labor Counsel to Members of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association and BEMS

Is there a doctor in the house?Section 19 and the Group Insurance Commission –

Panacea or Placebo?It’s that time of year again. The City has

unveiled next year’s budget and there is a$20 million dollar increase in health insur-ance costs. The issue of health insurancecost containment is one that the BPPA hasdealt with before. In our last round of con-tract negotiations, we agreed to a reductionof 5% in the City’s premium percentageshare towards health insurance during thelife of the contract. In addition, we cooper-ated with the City in identifying a less ex-pensive alternative to replace the MasterMedical plan that had been offered for de-cades to our members. The BPPA alsoagreed to a modified version of Section 18,affording the City relief on retiree healthcosts. Now the Mayor is pushing for legis-lation to make it easier for the City to jointhe Group Insurance Commission [GIC] –the agency that provides health insuranceto state employees and to municipal em-ployees in cities or towns that adopt Chap-ter 32B Section 19 and agree to join the GIC.

The BPPA realizes the fiscal constraintsthat the City is operating under and contin-ues to be willing to address this issue. Buthealth insurance is a critical employee ben-efit. Accordingly, it is important to evaluatethe consequences of a decision to join theGIC both in terms of bargaining obligationsand health benefits. Below is analysis of thecurrent City of Boston health benefits andthose available under the GIC.

Introduction:How and Why aMunicipality Joins the GIC

Section 19 of Chapter 32B to allow mu-nicipalities to join the state’s Group In-

surance Commission pool for the purposesof providing health insurance to their em-ployees. The theory behind the legislationis that GIC’s larger pool of employees re-sults in lower premiums for municipalitiesand their employees. The theory is appeal-ing to employers not only because they thinkthe new §19 will save them money, but willalso save them grief, because the GIC de-termines what plans are offered and the ben-efits, co-pays and deductibles under eachplan. If the City of Boston joins the GIC,the plan offerings and plan design are alldetermined by the GIC. Thus, if the Cityadopts Section 19 and obtains an agreementfrom the Public Employee Committee tojoin the GIC, it will no longer have to worryabout negotiating with carriers or withunions about plan design and cost changes.Below is a summary of Section 19 and theGIC.

Chapter 32B Section 19• Section 19 originally was enacted in

1993. It provides a structure of coalition

bargaining between municipal unions andtheir employer for health insurance. Tonegotiate with the employer, a Public Em-ployee Committee [PEC] is formed withrepresentatives from each bargaining unitin the municipality and a retiree.

• Votes of the PEC representatives are“weighted.” The retiree representative hasa 10% ratio vote. The remaining 90% voteis divided so that each union’s vote hasthe following proportion:

Number of employees eligible for healthinsurance represented by the unionDivided byTotal number of employees eligible forhealth insurance in all bargaining units.

• As a practical matter, teachers control thePEC because they have the largest num-ber of employees.

• The PEC acts as a single voice to negoti-ate health insurance issues with the mu-nicipality. Any agreement reached mustbe approved by at least 70% of theweighted votes cast by PEC representa-tives.

• The PEC agreement governs all aspectsof health insurance including types ofplans, identity of carriers, substantivebenefits and contributions.

• Municipalities that adopt Section 19 mayprovide insurance coverage as a singlegovernmental unit, through joint purchasewith other units, through a risk sharingpool, a health and welfare trust or througha third party administrator.

• There is a uniformity requirement – pre-mium contributions for each plan typemust be the same for all subscribers.

• Section 19 provides special protectionsfor retirees. It specifies that the PECagreement must provide for at least oneMedicare extension plan available to alleligible subscribers. In addition, retireesare entitled to insurance benefits at no lessthan the minimum percentage contribu-tion to other health insurance plans.

• Municipalities adopt Section 19 for onereason and one reason only – to transfertheir employees who are health insurancesubscribers into the Group InsuranceCommission (GIC), the entity that pro-vides insurance to state employees.

• Once in the GIC, all health insurance isgoverned by Chapter 32A that gives theGIC the right to determine plans, costs,deductibles and co pays. All plan designchanges are no longer subject to bargain-ing under 150E.

• The GIC restricts the municipalemployer’s ability to offset out of pocketcosts like co pays or deductibles incurredunder the GIC plans. Employers who jointhe GIC are restricted in setting up Health

Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) tooffset such costs. Up until recently HRAswere banned altogether for municipalgroups that joined the GIC. Recently, theGIC has softened its position and willallow HRAs for limited purposes to re-imburse a portion of the co pays,deductibles and other out of pocket costs.But such reimbursement is capped at anamount equal to or less that the estimatedincrease in co pays and deductibles forFY 2010 and 2011.

• Although the GIC determines plans andplan design (such as co-paysdeductibles), the premium percentagecontribution split still is determined bycollective bargaining by the municipal-ity and the PEC.

• Once in GIC, all Medicare eligible retir-ees must enroll in Medicare Part B.

• PEC agreements may include provisionsto resolve impasses during negotiations,such as binding “interest arbitration” andwithdrawal language.

Getting In and Out ofthe GIC• In order to get into the GIC, the City must

adopt Section 19, a local option law. Theadoption process is as follows.

• Section 19 must be adopted by the Mayor.Acceptance of Section 19 does not takeeffect until the City and the PEC executea written agreement.

• The City can condition acceptance of Sec-tion 19 on transferring all eligible employ-ees into GIC. This means that, unless thePEC agrees to go into the GIC, the adop-tion of Section 19 is a nullity.

• The City must have a written agreementwith the PEC executed by both partiesand notify the Group Insurance no laterthan October 1st in order to enter the GICfor the following July.

• Once the City adopts Section 19 and en-ters into the GIC, employees must stayin the GIC for a period of three years.

• Section 19 has a “snap back” provisionpermitting City and the PEC to jointlyagree to withdraw from GIC after a pe-riod of three years.

• In addition, there is a unilateral “snapback” provision, permitting either theCity or the PEC to unilaterally withdrawfrom GIC every six years.

• The unilateral revocation of Section 19or participation in GIC must be by 70%vote of PEC or by a majority vote of theCity Council.

• If the City withdraws from the GIC, itmust offer plans of equivalent economicbenefits to plans offered during the yearprior to GIC coverage.

• If the City revokes acceptance of Section19, it is obligated to return to 150E bar-

gaining regarding health insurance witheach individual union. However, even ifSection 19 is revoked, retirees will be re-quired to stay on Medicare

• The law also adds protections for elderlygovernment retirees. Retirees will not berequired to contribute more than 25% to-ward their health insurance.

Advantages andDisadvantages ofJoining the GIC• Acceptance of Section 19 and entry into

the GIC has certain benefits, such as:� The GIC has a wide variety of plan

choices and their premiums are gen-erally lower than those under-munici-pal plans.

� GIC premiums generally increase arate lower than the increases undermunicipal plans.

� Section 19 provides important retireeprotection. Retirees are given a seatat the PEC bargaining table and thelaw provides that the premium per-centage contribution for retirees mustbe the same as that for their active em-ployee counterparts.

� Section 19 provides for arbitration toresolve health insurance disputes un-der a PEC agreement and provides thatthe parties may agree to interest arbi-tration to determine health benefits.

• However, there are disadvantages in-volved in entering into the GIC, such as:� Unions lose the ability to negotiate

about changes in plan design, such asincreases in co-payments anddeductibles.

� For example, in February 2010, theGIC unilaterally implemented deduct-ibles of $250 per individual and $750per family per year. It also increasedthe cost of imaging scans such asMRIs to $100. This change, imple-mented mid-policy year is not subjectto bargaining.

� Unions lose any say over carrierchoices. The GIC has sole authorityto determine what plans and benefitsare offered.

� Currently, the GIC offers no BlueCross Blue Shield health plans andvery limited HMO options.

� In addition, the GIC plans have sub-stantially higher co-pays and deduct-ibles compared to most municipalplans. Below are two comparativecharts showing the difference in outof pocket costs under GIC plans com-pared to the City plans. Those costsrange up to $1,500 per year more.

� Once you enter the GIC, unions lose



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Legal Thoughts

Legal Notes: Thomas Drechsler, Esq.Byrne & Drechsler, L.L.P., Counsel to Members of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association

Where are our priorities? For 17 plusyears now I have been providing le-

gal counsel to police officers in the after-math of critical incidents, oftenshootings and custodial deaths.An onslaught of negative public-ity seems to occur even when anindividual suffers or dies fromnatural causes or commits sui-cide. We all know that the medialikes police liability, misconductand corruption stories. They sellpapers and attract viewers. Afterall, if a police officer performs hisor her job in a correct manner itis to be expected and the media does notconsider that to be a story.

In a recent incident police officers, he-roes all, confronted an armed suspect, ateenager with, according to the media andthe evidence, a history of mental illness,gang affiliations and a .45 automatic pistol.The evidence, according to the District At-torney, Medical Examiner, and officers, in-dicated that the individual drew, pointed andfired the .45 pistol at various police officersat close range. The individual then chose toshoot himself with his own weapon, clearlyof a different caliber from police weapons.Miraculously, one officer avoided tragedyby diving to the pavement behind parkedvehicles and returning fire. Innocent occu-pants of some parked vehicles in the areanarrowly avoided injury or death as well.They were members of the community justminding their own business.

However, the focus of the media was, asit always is, on the individual who fired the.45 automatic at the police officers and athimself. We were forced to read inaccuratequotations from neighbors and anonymousbystanders, or associates of the deceased,who purported to offer, without any basis,inaccurate opinions about the incident. Onenewspaper quoted an individual in the areaas suggesting, again without any founda-tion, that the deceased was shot 15 times(not true), that the police victimized the in-dividual, and that the incident was the faultof the police. In my view the actual evidenceshows otherwise and these “observers” ex-hibited no support for their “opinions.” Littleor nothing was ever said about the coura-geous police officers who risked their lives

to shield the community, as personified bythe innocent civilians seated in the car. Noth-ing was written about the innocent bystand-

ers. Don’t they have families, wives, chil-dren, lives of achievement and service?About that, nothing was written.

Instead we read all sorts of innuendofrom people who weren’t even there anddidn’t, by their own admission, see whatoccurred.

Let me tell you that in virtually everypolice shooting investigation in which I havebeen involved there are certain commoncharacteristics with regard to the person whothe police were forced to fire upon. Gener-ally, they present as follows: (1) the suspectcarried a firearm or other dangerous weaponor a replica appearing to be a dangerousweapon or an object that might be used asone; (2) the suspect brandished, aimed oractually used or fired the weapon or at-tempted to use the weapon on a police of-ficer or other person; (3) the suspect wason parole, probation, or free on bail for an-other offense; (4) the suspect was where heor she shouldn’t have been when he or sheshouldn’t have been there in violation oflegal restrictions and, in the case of teenag-ers, without supervision from the very adultswho later complain of their treatment at thehands of police; (5) the suspect was men-tally ill or was using or abusing alcohol and/or controlled substances; (6) the suspect wasknown to associate with members of streetgangs or to be involved in illegal activityregarding drugs or guns; and (7) first andforemost THE SUSPECT FAILED TOHEED OR OBEY POLICE DIREC-TIVES TO DROP THE GUN, STOPTHE CAR, SHOW THEIR HANDS, ETC.

However, we never read any of that. In-stead we often read that the suspect was:

(1) just turning his or her life around; (2)was about to go back to school; (3) wasabout to begin taking care of his or her fam-

ily and/or loved ones; (4) in fact, one whonever hung around with gangs or those in-volved in illegal activities such as drugs orguns, even though the suspect was in pos-session of one or the other or both.

We generally don’t learn of the positivecharacteristics of the police officers or in-nocent bystanders who have managed to getthrough life: (1) not carrying illegal weap-ons; (2) not threatening or menacing thelives of law enforcement personnel or in-nocent people with guns or other weapons;(3) not acting in a manner which endangersothers or themselves; (4) not on probation,parole or bail as they have no record; (5)not using drugs or alcohol illegally; (6) be-ing where they are supposed to be becausethey live or work there; and (7) giving law-ful commands which are unheeded or dis-

An onslaught of negative publicity seems to occur even whenan individual suffers or dies from natural causes or commitssuicide. We all know that the media likes police liability,misconduct and corruption stories. They sell papers and attractviewers. After all, if a police officer performs his or her job in acorrect manner it is to be expected and the media does notconsider that to be a story.

obeyed. And you know what? Those policeofficers and innocent bystanders often havefamilies, children, and distinguished records

of achievement in public or mili-tary service. They are not “turn-ing their lives around” becausethey don’t have to. They don’thave to go to back to school be-cause they never left and havegraduated or otherwise achievedtheir goals. They don’t have tothink about someday distinguish-ing themselves through service tothe community or joining themilitary because they often have

already done that. They don’t have to beginlooking after their families because theyalready do and have. You never read any-thing about those positive qualities.

Not so long ago I remember a police of-ficer shooting a pit bull (it seems to happentwo or three times a year in the City of Bos-ton). I remember the newspaper carrying aphoto of the pit bull with a Christmas bowon and seated under the Christmas tree. Thetheme I suppose was that the vicious pit bullwas turning its life around and was, accord-ing to its owner, kind and gentle before itso “uncharacteristically” attempted to mauland kill a civilian or officer. We read noth-ing of the police officer who was forced toshoot the pit bull because it was about to orwas engaged in a jaw lock on an innocentperson. Again, where are our priorities?

Casino Amendments filed(continued from page B1)

Mr. O’Flaherty of Chelsea moves to amend the bill in section 12, in line 2290, bystriking out the words “or any activity taking place on the premises of a gaming estab-lishment” and inserting after the word “licensee” the words: “or any other person”.

Mr. O’Flaherty of Chelsea moves to amend the bill in section 11, in line 84, byinserting after the word “unit” the words: “that shall include members of the policedepartments of the host communities.”

Mr. O’Flaherty of Chelsea moves to amend the bill in section 12, in line 2312, bystriking out the word “criminal” and inserting after the word “violation” the words: “of thisChapter”.

Mr. O’Flaherty of Chelsea moves to amend the bill in section 12, in line 2313, bystriking out the words: “under this Chapter”.

Rep. Martin Walsh filed similar jurisdictional language.

My neighbor is a “lefty” of sorts(Obama bumper stickers, gung-ho

socialized medicine, “guns should bebanned”, etc.). So this past spring I putthis sign up in my yard after one of his anti-gun rants at a neighborhood cocktail party.

The sign wasn’t up more than an hourbefore he called the police and wantedthem to make me take down the sign. For-tunately, the officer politely informed himthat it was not their job to take such ac-tion without a court order and that he hadto file a complaint “downtown” first,which would be reviewed by the city at-torney to see if it violated any city, county,

How to handle a liberal neighboror state ordinances, which if there was a vio-lation a court order would be sent to the of-fending party (me) to “remove the sign inseven days.”

After several weeks he was informed thatthe sign was legal (by a quarter of an inch)and there was nothing the city could do,which obviously made him madder.

I tried to smooth things over by invitinghim to go shooting with me and my friendsat the hunt club but that seemed to makehim even more angry.

I am at a loss how to reconcile our longrelationship (notice I did not say friendship),any suggestions would be welcome.


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any say on future plan changes or costshifts, such as increased co-pays ordeductibles.

� The City is restricted in its ability to

Is there a doctor in the house?Section 19 and the Group Insurance Commission – Panacea or Placebo?(continued from page B5)

Comparison of Boston vs. GIC Health Plans

Below are two charts comparing GIC plans to plans presently offered to City of Boston employees. The first chart comparesthe Harvard Pilgrim PPO offered by the City to that offered by the GIC. The second chart compares two indemnity-type PPO

plans. As you can see, the out of pocket costs for employees are substantially greater underrrr the GIC health plans.

establish HRAs to reimburse employ-ees for these additional out of pocketcosts.

� If the parties decide to withdraw from

the GIC after three or six years, thereis no guarantee that you will be ableto return to plans that existed beforeyou went into the GIC.

CITY OF BOSTON GIC DIFFERENCE

BENEFIT COMPARISON – HARVARD PPOGIC vs. BOSTON PLAN

BENEFIT COMPARISON Harvard Pilgrim POS Harvard PilgrimIndependence Plan [POS]

Additional Cost under GIC

Office Visit In Network: $10Out of Network: 80%coverage after deductible

Regular MD: $20 per visitSpecialist:$35 to $45 per visit

Between $10 and $35additional per Office Visitdepending on MD

Prescription DrugsCo-Pay

$5 / $10 / $25 $25 / $50 $20 to $25 additionalper Rx

In Patient HospitalizationCo-Pay

In Network: Covered in fullOut of Network: 80%coverage after deductible

Tier 1: $250Tier 2: $500Tier 3: $750

Between $250 to $740additional for In Network

Out Patient SurgeryCo-Pay

None $150 per occurrance $150 additional

Emergency Room Co-Pay $30 per visit $100 per visit $70 additional per visit

High Tech ImagingCo-Pay [MRI, PET, CAT]

No cost $100 $100 additional

BENEFIT COMPARISON – UNICARE IMDEMNITY vs. BLUE CHOICEGIC vs. BOSTON PLAN

Deductible In Network: NoneOut of Network:$200 per member,$400 per year

$250 per member,$750 per familybefore any benefits arecovered

$250 to $750 additionalfor In Network

CITY OF BOSTON GIC DIFFERENCE

BENEFIT COMPARISON Blue Choice Unicare IndemnityCommunity Choice

Additional Cost under GIC

Office Visit In Network: $10Out of Network: 80%coverage after deductible

Primary Care MD:$15 to $35 per visitdepending on tierSpecialist:$35 to $45 per visitdepending on tier

Between $25 and $35additional per Office Visitdepending on MD

Prescription DrugsCo-Pay

$5 / $10 $10 / $25 / $50 $15 to $40 additionalper Rx

In Patient HospitalizationCo-Pay

In Network: Covered in fullOut of Network: 80%coverage after deductible

$250 deductible $250 additional forIn Network

Out Patient SurgeryCo-Pay

None $110 per occurrance $110 additional

Emergency Room Co-Pay $10 per visit $100 per visit $90 additional per visit

High Tech ImagingCo-Pay [MRI, PET, CAT]

No cost $100 $100 additional

Deductible In Network: NoneOut of Network:$50 per member,$100 per year

$250 per member,$750 per familybefore any benefits arecovered

$250 to $750 additionalfor In Network

By Caitlin Castello,Globe West – Wellesley

The Wellesley Police Department will beremoved from Civil Service in conjunc-

tion with new measures bargained betweenthe town and two police unions.

After an hour-long debate, WellesleyTown Meeting members voted in favor ofthe measure at the start of the Annual TownMeeting Monday night.

“Civil service has outlived its useful-ness,” said Selectman Katherine L.Babson Jr. during the presentation of ar-ticle items.

Two favorable votes under two warrantarticles were needed for the removal of thepolice department from Civil Service, partof the state’s human resources division.

With the removal of the Police Depart-ment from Civil Service, the town will beable to hire and promote officers based onits own wants and needs. In 1996, TownMeeting approved the removal but was over-ridden when the question was posed to atownwide election.

The town opened negotiations with twoPolice Department unions, the Patrolmen’sUnion and the Superior Officers Union. Theterms of their agreement call for the removalfrom Civil Service and a two-year contractextension at a 0 percent increase for fiscalyear 2012 and a 1 percent increase for fis-cal year 2014.

Police officers who are currently eligiblefor the Quinn Bill, which boosts the sala-ries of police officers with college degrees,can continue to receive full incentives. Therebe a new program at a fixed dollar amountfor officers not currently eligible for theQuinn Bill.

The Police Department will need to es-tablish new rules and procedures for hiringand promoting officers, but with the removalfrom Civil Service, the candidate pool willgrow, said Hans Larsen, town executivedirector.

Appointments, promotions and termina-tions will be recommended by the chief ofpolice and are subject to approval by theBoard of Selectmen, he said. Current offic-ers will be grandfathered into the department.

“I would like to speak in complete sup-port,” said Town Meeting member TomUlfelder. “I think it is something that wouldhave to positive impact to the town but I amopposed to the continuation of the QuinnBill as compensation.”

The same sentiments were echoed fromother town meeting members.

Over the past two years the state has de-creased its funding for the Quinn Bill, anincentive program for police officers to seekadvanced education. With the state reduc-tions, towns have been scrambling for so-lutions, said Babson.

Other Town Meeting members ques-

See what’sgoing on inother citiesand towns



Veterans’ Corner: Patrick M. Rose, C-11

As usual, the New World Ordermarches to its own tune

As I sit here and ponder over the many things I couldwrite about, (or as some of you have pointed out;

complain about), I have just finished opening a letter fromthe IRS asking me for more information concerning line#21 of my return. Now realize that I sent this return inseven weeks ago and am now reading a letter telling methat I have twenty days to answer and then I will receivemy return in approximately eight weeks from their receiptof my return letter!

You gotta love it. I have to deal with a federal agent inKansas because the government shut down the processingstation in Andover, laid off thousands of New Englandworkers, before hiring thousands more from the mid-westand placing them into a new facility in Kansas, not record-ing the ones laid off and then touting the fact that the reces-sion is over and employment is up. To add insult to injury,the government has decided to totally refurbish the aban-doned IRS building in Andover to the tune of tens of mil-lions of dollars. Not sure what the building will be usedfor, (gotta spend that stimulus money somehow), but notto worry, they’re on top of everything by demanding anexplanation of my $1,250.00 deduction on line #21. Thismust be the money they are going to balance the budgetwith.

I guess it could be worse, the government could havetotally ignored the wishes of the majority of American taxpayers and done something absurd, like pass the inept healthcare bill into law or maybe even hire an additional; onethousand five hundred IRS agents under the guise of a healthcare reform bill. Oh, wait a minute, they did!

As usual, the New World Order, run by the DemocraticNational Committee, is marching to its own tune. Regard-less of what the majority want, request and demand, Nancyand her crew will continue to attempt to reshape the UnitedStates of America into a European like socialist state, withall the fixings!

The New World Order will determine all of our needs,(like it or not), they will determine how much of your hardearned money you can keep and how much you will shareunder their new system that includes a Redistribution ofWealth formula!

The New World Order will ensure that every facet ofyour life is monitored and dictated by the government. TheGovernment will now decide who gets care and whodoesn’t, and if by some strange reason you are allowed tokeep any of your bargained benefits, the Government isgoing to tax your benefits to the point where you’ll give upand just go along with whatever they propose.

The New World Order has decided that you middle classworking fools have been earning too much, that you’vemoved too far to the front of the line, creating a large gapbetween you and the sick, lame and lazy, that subsist off ofgovernment handouts and programs.

The New World Order wants to close that gap, so thatthe human parasites can share in your earnings and for-tune. You middle class scum don’t deserve the riches youhave amassed through hard work and long hours, throughfrugality and common sense behavior.

You will conform to the ideals of the New World Orderor you will be dealt with! Regardless of your years of bar-gained benefits, pension plans, work place improvements,workers rights improvements, etc. …, if they do not fit intoQueen Nancy’s image of the New World Order, you willbe stripped of those benefits and rights by a stroke of thepen. The Government will now tell you what you want,need and will receive! We will no longer be a capitalistsociety based on free enterprise with idealists and entre-preneurs paving the way for us to be the strongest country

on earth, no, we will be in lockstep with government regu-lations and our every action dictated by Queen Nancy andher cohort Prince Harry from the Senate side of the table!Because, they know what’s best for you and yours.

Our military will be systematically stripped of its power.We have now started that move with a little treaty signedsealed and delivered by the Commander-in-Chief. How inthe world do you come up with a treaty which weakensyour worldwide deterrent system, making promises to coun-tries worldwide and asking for virtually nothing in return,under the guise of making the world a safer place? Thislatest ‘gem’ in the crown of our foreign policy is far from adiamond; let’s consider it a poor quality cubic zirconium.In case no one bothered to tell the President or his staff, thereason we haven’t been hit with a Chemical or BiologicalAgent, is because we as a country have telegraphed to theworld at large that we would respond with a Plethora ofNuclear Warheads! So, by promising the world that we asa nation will never use a nuke against a non-nuke country,thank you for opening the door to some ass-backwards ter-rorist regime that is considered a sovereign state within theNew World Order!

Don’t worry, we idiots of this Nation, don’t know a thingabout foreign policy, we are too busy worrying about howto keep a roof over our head and food on the table, becauseafter all everything is hunky dory, right?! You told us thatthe recession is ending, we believe you!

Oh, and that little foreign policy piece about enricheduranium, yah I really like how the world has flocked tothat, all those Terrorist States that have signed on boardlike; Canada, Mexico, Panama, Great Britain, maybe evenAustralia will sign up, but I doubt it because they actuallybelieve in a Sovereign Democratic State run by a Govern-ment that listens to the people that vote them into office!

Do you people in Washington really believe that youcan continue to systematically tear down our country, de-stroy the very fabric of our being and we the people won’tstand up against you and fight. Fight to protect ourselves,our children, our very Nation from being turned into some-thing that we revolted against two hundred and fifty yearsago?!

We are not some quasi-European country that believesin a New World Order! When we accepted and erectedthat gift from France called ‘The Statue of Liberty’, offi-cially known and given as ‘Liberty Enlightening theWorld!’, it was in recognition of America signing The Dec-laration of Independence 100 years earlier. We offered aworld where anyone was welcome as long as they werewilling to work for themselves and build a life. There wasnever a promise of Government direction, assistance, out-right interference and or tyranny. No Monarchies, no King-doms, no Fiefdoms, just a place where the people believedin freedom. Freedom to practice religion without Govern-ment interference, freedom to work and earn, (capitalism!),freedom to buy land, but most importantly, joining a soci-ety that believes in and started the original revolution overNO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!

So when Queen Nancy, Prince Harry and King Obamadecide to rewrite our constitution, to redirect the moralcompass of this country, to systematically tear apart everysingle good that we have worked to achieve over the last250 years, when they totally ignore us, the people, I mustask when does the new revolution begin?

The answer is simple, VOTE THEM ALL OUT andstart the fix. We can achieve revolution through the ballotbox. Please don’t let this mid-term election, that’ll be herebefore you know it, pass you by without involving your-self in the voter’s revolution!

“Prince Harry” Reid and “Queen Nancy” Pelosi ignore the realpeople with government regulations on our every action inthe “New World Order.”


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Legal comments from Sandulli Grace

by Alan Shapiro, Esq.February 18th, 2010

Like one of those standard joke setups, Ihave good news and bad news.

First the good news: Human ResourcesDivision (HRD) has dropped banding, atleast for now. The Civil Service Commis-sion just issued an email with the announce-ment of a public hearing on February 25 toreview proposed amendments to HRD rules.The rules no longer contain a provision forbanding of examination scores.

In reviewing the proposed changes, Iactually find some of them improvements.For example, they clarify how to deal withthe period when old lists are expiring andbeing replaced by new ones. If HRD doesnot receive the certification (“the list”) backfrom the employer at least three weeks be-fore a list expires, it will not, assuming theserules go through, issue a certification. Thiscreation of a “bright line” separating the twolists removes some of the politicking thathas invariably influenced this process.

Now for the bad news. On January 27,Governor Deval Patrick filed legislationthat would go a long way towards guttingcivil service. The Commission now has, asit has had for decades (at least as long asI’ve been practicing, which goes back to atleast the Hoover Administration), five Com-missioners: a chairman and four others.Only three of them now receive full sala-ries, with Commissioner Dan Henderson’sbeing the lowest of those, at about $77,000.

Good news and bad news:No banding, but maybe no Civil Service Commission

The Governor has proposed to essen-tially eliminate Commissioner Henderson,by converting his position from one of arelatively modest salary to one with no sal-ary. Since Henderson presumably does nothave a trust fund to fall back on, this wouldnecessitate his leaving this position. Ironi-cally, this change would come followingsignificant criticism from the managementlabor community (including Boston PoliceCommissioner Ed Davis and the Mass. Mu-nicipal Association) protesting CommissionerHenderson’s repeated insistence on issuingdecisions in accordance with the law and notas a rubber-stamp for public employers.

Also in the bill, Commissioner JackTaylor, who is already reduced to a part-time schedule, would see his salary go fromabout $35,000 to zero. Coincidentally, Tay-lor was the only other commissioner, be-sides Henderson, to vote against allowingbanding to go through about a year ago. Theother three commissioners, including Chair-man Bowman, saw no problem with it. Wehad to then go to Superior Court to findsomeone who would actually read the lawand force HRD to live with its regulationsrequiring scores to be set out in “whole num-bers.”

What is particularly nefarious about thelegislation is that, by the way it was filed, itautomatically goes into effect on March 27,unless one branch of the Legislature votesit down before then. A copy of the bill canbe found here.

If you still believe that having an inde-pendent Civil Service Commission has anyvalue, I cannot urge you strongly enough tocontact your union, your legislators, andanyone else who will listen to try to stop

Mashpee Quinn Suit Update:Judge denies town’s motionto dismiss case to proceed

to ruling on meritsby Bryan Decker, Esq.

April 2nd, 2010

Earlier this week Massachusetts Supe-rior Court Judge Robert Rufo denied

the Town of Mashpee’s motion to dismissthe Quinn Bill lawsuit brought by severalMashpee Officers. The Suit contends thatthe Town violated the law when it reducedQuinn Bill payments to officers based onan anticipated reduction in state funding.After hearing argument, Judge Rufo deniedthe motion from the bench, an unusualmove. The case will now proceed to a deci-sion on the merit.

The suit alleges that under the Quinn Bill,a municipality may NOT reduce Quinn Billbenefits, even if the collective bargainingagreement between the municipality and itsunion would purport to allow a reduction.This is because the Quinn Bill is NOT astatute that parties may amend via bargain-ing. Allowing a Town to reduce Quinn ben-efits is the same as allowing it to pay offic-

ers below the minimum wage. Even if thecontract says it’s permissible, it is not.

“We’re extremely happy that Judge Ruforefused to dismiss the case. The officers willnow have their case heard on its merits,”said Sandulli Grace’s Bryan Decker, whoargued for the officers. “We’re confident thatwe will prevail and that the Town will beordered to pay its officers the full benefit towhich they are entitled.”

Even assuming that the case will be suc-cessful, educational benefits for officers arenot ensured in the future. The legislaturealready “closed” the program to newly hiredofficers; and the Governor is pushing fur-ther changes that would ALLOW a townto reduce payments if the state short changesthe town on reimbursement. “It’s pretty dis-graceful, the state’s reduction in Quinn re-imbursement is nothing more than a backdoor local aid cut,” says Decker. “Nonethe-less, towns and cities can’t just cut policeofficers’ pay. That’s outrageous.”

this legislation from becoming law.Had this been done by the Romney Ad-

ministration it would not have been surpris-ing, but coming from the first Democraticgovernor in over 15 years, it is shameful.

by Susan Horwitz, Esq.February 26th, 2010

On Wednesday morning, February 24,2010, the Joint Legislative Commit-

tee on State Administration and RegulatoryOversight held a hearing to address theGovernor’s improper efforts to stack theCivil Service Commission by eliminatingthe salary of three of the five Civil ServiceCommissioners. The Governor’s planwould completely politicize the Commis-sion by puttng virtually all the power in thechair who is answerable directly to the Gov-ernor.

At the hearing there was a tremendousoutpouring of opposition to the Governor’sproposal. The hearing room was overflow-ing with representatives from numerouspolice organizations clearly leading the op-position to the Governor’s efforts. Tom Nee,President of the Boston Police Patrolmen’sAssociation testified as did Sandull GraceAttorney Susan Horwitz. See her com-ments below. Also the Massachusetts Coa-lition of Police was represented by VicePresident Kenneth Scanzio and AttorneyTim King.

The Committee members appeared veryconcerned with the Governor’s proposal andlistened to the objections from the policeunion witnesses. The Committee membersheard that the Civil Service Commissionneeds some fixing but that the Governor’sproposal is not the appropriate action andin fact will only make things worse. It iswrong to politicize an agency whose pri-mary mission and purpose is to keep poli-tics out of public emloyment. The CivilService Commission is sometimes the onlyplace where employees can turn to insurefair treatment in their employment. TheCommittee must act within ten days of thehearing and report whether it approves ordisapproves such plan and then at least onebranch at the general court must vote it’sdisapproval by a majority vote in order toprevent the Governor’s plan from takingeffect as of March 27, 2010.

Please continue to let the Committeeknow your opposition to this anti-union andanti-employee plan.

Legislative Committee hearsstrong police union opposition

to Governor’s attackon Civil Service

JOINT COMMITTEE ON STATEADMINISTRATION AND

REGULATORY OVERSIGHTHouse Staff:

Room 22, State HouseBoston, MA 02133Telephone: 617-722-2140

Senate Staff:Room 413A, State HouseBoston, MA 02133Telephone: 617-722-1643

Susan’s statement tothe Joint LegislativeCommittee on StateAdministration andRegulatory Oversight:

My name is Susan Horwitz and I am anattorney representing the Boston PolicePatrolmen’s Association. I also have beenrepresenting individuals before the CivilService Commission for over 25 years andI previously worked for the Federal gov-ernment as a personnel officer implement-ing federal civil service law.

I am here today to ask you to disapprovethe Governor’s actions to improperly re-structure the Civil Service Commission.

The role of the Civil Service Commis-sion as described in the Statute, Chapter 31,is to enforce the basic Merit Principles asdescribed in the law. The agency is respon-sible for assuring fair treatment of all appli-cants and employees in all aspects of per-sonnel administration without regard topolitical affilation and to assure that allemployees are protected against coercionfor political purposes and are protected fromarbitrary and capricious actions.

The State Courts have further empha-sized that the fundamental purpose of thecivil service system is to guard against po-litical considerations, favoritism, and biasin government employment decisions andto protect public employees from politicalcontrol.

I believe that if you take a close look atthe Governor’s proposal you will see theirony in his proposal since it does not passthe standard of keeping politics and fairnessin the structure of the Civil Service Com-




News Brieflets…Compiled and commented upon by Patrick Carnell,

Canisius College graduate, Buffalo, NY

News Brieflets…

“Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of Ameri-can health care reform “a miracle” and a major victory for Obama’s presidency, butcouldn’t help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cubaachieved decades ago….Cuba provides free health care and education to all its citizens,and heavily subsidizes food, housing, utilities and transportation, policies that have earnedit global praise. The government has warned that some of those benefits are no longersustainable given Cuba’s ever-struggling economy, though it has so far not made majorchanges.” – Associated Press, 3/25/10

Hopefully whoever wrote that last part just has an extremely dry, ironic sense of hu-mor, and knows the difference between “free” and “nationalized to hell on earth andback.” I also assume that “Cuban revolutionary leader” is just the polite way of saying“murderous, tyrannical animated corpse,” but the important thing is Uncle Fidel is finallyproud of us, and who needs the support of Israel and Britain when you can get it from theleader of an island less advanced than Gilligan’s?

� � � � � � � � � � � �“The Gulf Stream does not appear to be slowing down, say US scientists who have

used satellites to monitor tell-tale changes in the height of the sea. Confirming work byother scientists using different methodologies, they found dramatic short-term variabilitybut no longer-term trend.” – BBC, 3/29/10

Al Gore wept. You mean that using the most up to date technology and taking actualmeasurements renders the hysterical simulations and predictions of the slowed Gulf Streamturning northern Europe into a frozen wasteland by leading “climate scientists” subject toscrutiny (at least)? I just don’t know what to think anymore. No wonder congressmenfrom Georgia are anxious about capsizing islands.

� � � � � � � � � � � �“Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our

lives over the coming decades. This is the stark conclusion of James Lovelock, the glo-bally respected environmental thinker and independent scientist who developed the Gaiatheory….One of the main obstructions to meaningful action is “modern democracy”, headded. “Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracymust be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be anissue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.”

– The Guardian, 3/31/10It may also be necessary for people like James Lovelock to abandon their compulsive

need to lay down rules for OTHER people to follow, considering their fantasy “benevo-lent dictatorships” usually end up being anything but. But surrendering democracy tocombat a highly debatable, questionable (at best) threat? Sorry, shan’t be doing that.

� � � � � � � � � � � �“First lady Michelle Obama welcomed spring to the White House Wednesday by

replanting her popular vegetable garden with the help of local elementary school stu-dents. She told the students that no matter where people live or how old they may be, theycan still garden, noting the fun of spending time outdoors and digging in the dirt. Toillustrate that point, the first lady knelt in the 1,500-square-foot garden and planted tworows of broccoli as well as some rhubarb. After the rhubarb was in the ground Mrs.Obama and some of the children performed what she called a “growing dance” aroundthe wooden planter. The group chanted “grow, rhubarb, grow” several times, then circledthe planter and finished by throwing their hands in the air.”

– Christian Science Monitor, 4/1/10For any who doubt that this

took place, here is a picture:Well…I suppose the First

Lady might, in certain circles,be commended for involvingthe children in ancient sha-manistic spiritual practices, butshe might want to end it withthe druid chanting. I doubtmost of America will look fa-vorably upon stoning a virginto death and sprinkling herblood on the fields to ensure abountiful harvest.

� � � � � � � �“CNN continued what has become a precipitous decline in ratings for its prime-time

programs in the first quarter of 2010, with its main hosts losing almost half their viewersin a year…About the only break from the bad news for CNN was that March was not asbad as February, when the network had its worst single month in its recent history, finish-ing behind not only Fox News and MSNBC, but also its sister network HLN – and evenCNBC, which had Olympics programming that month. CNN executives have steadfastlysaid that they will not change their approach to prime-time programs, which are led byhosts not aligned with any partisan point of view.” – New York Times, 3/29/10

According to them, at least. It never occurs to them to ask the question, “Why does thepublic hate us, and what can WE do to fix it?” It’s like they knowingly jump out of anairplane without a parachute, and half-way down start screaming, “Oh God, there’s got tobe a ripcord around here somewhere!” instead of just praying for the inevitable to come asquickly as possible.

By Patrick Carnell,Canisius College graduate, Buffalo, NY

Look at this picture of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,flanked by a soon-to-be ex-congressman and a crea-

ture that appears to be Gollum. Regardless of your poli-tics, isn’t this exactly the sort of image that causesyou to furrow your brow and grind your teeth at thesheer amount of smugness and arrogance it exudes?This is how Pelosi, also known as “Granny RictusMcBotox,” and most Democrats celebrated their he-roic act of forcing their health care bill on a publicheavily opposed to it: not with class, not with silentbut dignified relief, but cackling like witches, withan air of self-satisfaction seen typically in middleschool bullies and reality show villains. Even JohnMcCain stated it made him emotionally angry tosee the Democrats shrieking like schoolgirls overthe passage of the bill. “How do you like our 220?”Pelosi boasted, unable to hear the honest and cre-ative, if a bit crude, responses of millions of Ameri-cans. “No money changed hands,” she continued,giggling, in an attempt to make a joke about bettingon the outcome of the vote, but highlighting the factthat a lot of money and job offers did, in fact, changehands, to buy the votes of the insufficiently devoted.That’s the Chicago way.

Incredibly, it doesn’t matter to the Democrats that theirramming of the health care bill against the will of the ma-jority is setting them up for a nightmarish purge in No-vember. So long as they achieved a single victory in the

Cheering while America burnsname of their Messiah, their electoral butchering and thepotential chaos it will cause to the already tenuous economyworries them not in the least. So much about their revelingin glorious victory calls to mind the stereotype of old Eu-ropean aristocrats, chuckling derisively at the peasants roll-

ing in filth in the streets, responding with scandalized out-rage when the masses fail to show proper awe in their pres-ence, and finally gaping in genuine shock and confusionwhen the people take to the streets demanding their heads.Indeed, it seems their new motto is “Après moi, le deluge,”

or “After me, the deluge,” in the words of King Louis XVof France, meaning whatever happens after the fact is ofno concern to them. The phrases “Pride cometh before thefall” and “Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind,” however,are clearly as alien to them as the concepts of “humility”

and “representing the will of your constituents.”If Republican and Independent candidates are

smart, every one of their campaign ads this fallwill include this picture. Even without the Wicked-Witch-of-the-West, poisoned-Halloween-candy,something-wicked-this-way-comes imagery itevokes, it simply makes people viscerally angryto see this woman cackle with delight over pass-ing a bill that cuts funding to hospices for theterminally ill. It’s an emotional, rather than logi-cal, reaction to seeing someone who justscrewed you over in the most degrading waypossible screech and cavort with glee over yourgrave. It taps into the primal, “I will get myrevenge” urge all people get, which won’t besatisfied until the smug witch is taken down afew pegs. The one thing people hate more thana sore loser is an ungracious winner, and Nancy,Obama, and the Democrats have them in droves.They had best enjoy their undeserved success

while it lasts, because, thanks to images like NancyPelosi barking merrily like a trained Maoist sea lion,November will be a hellish nightmare from which theDemocrats will not wake up, while for Republicans itwill be a thing of death and beauty.


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In an effort to present “fair and balanced” journalism, please enjoy the following:

10 Things I Like About ObamaBy P.O. Sy Cophant

1. He is Left-Handed.2. He doesn’t get mad on camera when his wife makes fun of him.3. He goes out of his way to attend his daughter’s school/sports events.4. He will always be safe with Biden and Pelosi behind him.5. He has a great speaking voice.6. He likes to drink beer.7. He has a better “pout” than Bill Clinton when he gets mad8. He picked Kansas to win “March Madness.”9. He will appear without a tie.10. He has a Chief of Staff that will bully Congressmen in the nude.

All that Heaven does, Heaven does wellBy Jay Moccia

Looks like this year’s “New Year’s Reso-lution” to work out more has failed mis-

erably. I haven’t been to the gym in so long,my muscle memory has Alzheimer’s.

Poor Tiger Woods, more like a Pussycat(Pun Intended), with that blubbering tearyapology. Is anyone else sick of seeing MENcry? Between him and Brett Favre (I’m re-tiring BOO-HOO/I’m playing again BOO-HOO) it’s a regular Niagara Falls of eyejuice. MAN UP you sissies. You’re bawlinglike a three year old that dropped his icecream. You wear a jock for a reason!

I occasionally shop at BJ’s. They nowaccept EBT. Don’t get me wrong if some-one needs help, it should be available tothem. BUT, don’t trudge up to the registerwith a pallet that looks like you’re stockingthe concession at Gillette Stadium, pay withyour EBT card, THEN load it into yourMercedes SUV. I felt like screaming!

I got ordered to do the St Patrick’s Dayparade in Southie. It was a gloomy, rainyday that featured low attendance, cancelledbands and crowded bars. We had Roll Call,were issued Civil Ordinance ViolationBooks, and told to use common sense withthem. Then a member of the Command Staffyelled at us that there would be ZERO TOL-ERANCE for drinking and we MUST citeor arrest any offenders. (wonder if he’sgonna give that little pep talk at the Carib-bean Festival). We were deployed and toldto face the crowd, so we looked across thestreet at the other wet, miserable cops. I willsay though, the people living along the routewere generous with food, water, andrestrooms.

Guns have only two enemies, Rust, andPoliticians!

They are called “Killer Whales” for areason, stay the hell away from them!

For the last two years, ESPN, Sports Il-lustrated, NFL, and NCAA have told us howgreat Florida QB Tim Tebow is. Then heappears in a Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad, andthe media does an absolute hatchet job onhim.

I will agree that there is no bias in themedia, just as soon as they ask Joe Biden tospell: “Potato.”

Keith Olbermann claims the TEA Partymovement is racist and excludes blacks andgays. Now, if you scan the crowd, you canpick out our fellow darker patriots, but howwould he ID gays? Maybe with a name likeOlbermann, he wants us to make them wear

a pink triangle on their jackets…wait theytried that in Germany, didn’t work out too well.

Mayor Loonberg NYC, wants to ban saltin restaurant food. This is the guy whobanned trans-fat and junk food. How muchmore control over our lives do we want thegovernment to have? At this rate, we’ll soonbe subject to “National Bum Cleaning” atthe same time every day. Just rememberwhat happened in High School when all thetoilets were flushed at once.

The word “SPORT” should not be al-lowed to appear in any form on a minivan.

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg haveproduced an epic HBO mini-series “ThePacific”. By all accounts, it provides a goodrecounting of a dirty war, in harsh condi-tions against a stubborn, tough enemy.What’s galling is Hank’s idiotic commentsabout hatred, racism, and atrocities byAmericans. I guess stupid is as stupid does.

If Healthcare in the US is so bad, whydo people who can afford it, from all overthe world come here for treatment or train-ing?

At Hockey Rinks all over the U.S. andCanada, skaters are told;” Heads Up, Don’tDuck” to avoid traumatic head/neck/back in-juries when crashing into the boards. Why thenare you told to lean forward with your headbetween your knees during a plane crash?

Why do Liberals think it’s OK for themto call people names or make snide com-ments, then act all offended when the favoris returned? TEA Party members are rou-tinely referred to using a term describing adeviant sexual act, while the anchors andpundits snicker when they say it. BUT callthem names or oppose them (Liberals) atyour peril! You are immediately labeled oneor all of the following: Xenophobe,Homophobe, Racist, Misogynist, Bigot,Right Wing Extremist, etc. for voicingYOUR opinion! Democratic Congressmenwalking to the Capitol during the HealthCare Debate claimed they were harassedwith racial epithets, and spat on, YET withall the assembled media coverage, not tomention cell phone cameras recording theevent, no one can produce anything evenremotely resembling the Dem’s claims.

Speaking of the aforementioned HealthCare Bill, the Senate passed their versionon Christmas Eve, and the House pushedtheirs through on a Sunday, do they wantus to think how hard they work or how trulysneaky they are?

In Arizona, a 90+ year old Death Row

Inmate passed away while still awaitingexecution. He was sentenced to die forcrimes that included; armed robbery, as-sault, and murder (5 or more victims) dur-ing a criminal career that dated back to thedays of Bonnie and Clyde. His attorney wasgrateful the State didn’t execute him. I won-der how his victims feel?

I have read the Constitution, and I be-lieve it’s a pretty straight-forward docu-ment. My problems arise from the currentAdministration’s interpretation of it. Theywant to deny or restrict YOUR Rights thatare clearly defined like Free Speech andBearing Arms. They also want to “cherry-pick” parts of it, like Pelosi attaching thephrase “…certain unalienable rights…” toHealth Care. Having read the Constitution,I can assure you, the words Health CareDO NOT APPEAR in it! What does ap-pear is “…Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit ofHappiness…” The key word there is Pur-suit, which means to chase or seek imply-ing your role in working toward your success.

I think I may have figured out what’swrong with ourCountry. We used tohave leaders whowere MEN! Cap-tains of Industry,Military Heroes, Fa-mous Athletes…now we just have: “NERDS”!

Honey, those shorts are too short if thepockets hang below the hemline.

Sean Penn is VERY upset that peoplecriticize his best buddy Hugo Chavez, thetin horn dictator of Venezuela. He thinksfolks that make fun of his pal and his Anti-American policies should go to jail! I’ve gotnews for you Sean-o in Venezuela if theyquestion Chavez they do go to jail, and aretortured or killed. I guess that’s what youenvision for critics of your other hers,Obama.

Recent rainstorms left most of New En-gland with swollen rivers, washed out roads,and flooded homes. The driving conditionswere so poor, I got stuck behind an old guywith a beard driving a big boat slowly downthe Jamaica Way. When I finally managedto pass him I noticed his passengers weretwo cows, two goats, two zebras, two el-ephants…

Be ready to hear; “I didn’t know THATwas in there!” from your elected Officialsas the sordid details of the Health Care Billemerge from the slime. Just remember thereason they didn’t know it was in there wasbecause THEY DIDN’T BOTHER TOREAD IT!

My brothers, I know we are a charitablelot, but PLEASE remove any BPD orBPPA logos from clothes you donate tocharity. It’s kind of embarrassing pickingup a bum covered in feces and vomit wear-ing a BPPA golf jacket. People might getthe wrong idea about the bum.

When the President gives a speech to ahouse packed with supporters is it politicsor propaganda?

Somali Pirates are STILL at it off theircoast. Some even had the stones to attack a

US Navy vessel! Their “fast boats” and“mother ship” were sunk and several werekilled or captured. The hapless corsairs werehanded over to a Kenyan Court for trial.Kenya is asking other countries step in andassist their overburdened Court System.Here’s an idea straight out of history thatworked quite well a few centuries ago. Ex-ecute all Pirates taken during an overt actof Piracy on the High Seas, right there onthe spot! Then launch a few Tomahawkmissiles at their Land based ports, as a re-minder their actions have consequences.And for God’s sake arm the Merchantmen!Piracy stopped in that area when the West-ern Powers met force with force. Thesepeople are nothing more than cowards whopray on unarmed shipping. I know let’s callthem “bullies” instead of “Pirates.” Maybethat will get some Government attention.

Mexico stations armed troops manningmachine gun emplacements and watchtow-ers on their border with Guatemala. NorthKorea arrests, and sentences to “hard labor”any caught violating their borders. Why areWE the only saps who not only allow peopleto violate our Sovereignty, but then rewardthem for doing so?

Many claim tobacco is so bad the Gov-ernment should make it illegal. The reasonthey don’t is simple: tobacco is the fat kidUncle Sam beats up for his lunch money.Just remember bullying is bad unless it’sthe Government doing it.

Did anyone notice the new “NationalOffice for Climate Change” grand openingwas cancelled due to the record snowfall inWashington DC?

I heard two anti-gun horror stories I’dlike to share with you. First one involves aLocal College Cop I know. She’s marriedwith two small kids, and like many others,enrolled them in Day Care. Sometimes, ifshe’s running late, she’ll go to the placedirectly from work, showing up in full uni-form (including her issued firearm). She waspulled aside by the Day Care owner afterseveral of the other parents expressed theirconcern of her being armed around smallchildren. I guess these other parents musthave given birth to Superman or Batgirl tobe able to disarm a trained Police Officerat three years of age! The cop has decideddiscretion is the better course than valorand won’t go in uniform anymore eventhough she’s charged a fee by the Day Carefor showing up late. The second involves aguy who as a youth broke a window andwas charged with destruction of propertywhich at the time was considered a misde-meanor. He has held a firearms license forover twenty years, but was recently denieda renewal due to the fact that destruction ofproperty is now considered a felony. If thatisn’t a clear cut case of Ex-Post Facto ap-plication of the law, I don’t know what is.He was urged to appeal and hire a lawyerbut didn’t (allowing his rights to be violatedI add) because it was a pain in the butt.Good thing our forefathers and every vet-eran didn’t feel the same way, shrinkingfrom a fight because it would be a pain. It’s



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mission itself. Were the Commission re-viewing the personnel actions proposed bythe Governor’s proposal it would surely findit in violation of merit principles and in con-travention of the essence and purpose of thecivil service law and system.

The Commission is designed with fivecommissioners and creates balance by en-suring that at least one member is a repre-sentative of labor, two representing man-agement and also that no more than threecommissioners can be from the same po-litical party. Clearly this is designed to cre-ate balance and fairness and to assure thatthe Commission will carry out its role as afair and neutral agency. It is clear that theCommission must not be influenced bypolitics and surely should not be restruc-tured for political expedience. The proposedrestructure will effectively eliminate the la-bor member of the Commission and willcreate a one person commission whichwill be directly responsive to the Gover-nor since the Governor will determinewhich Commissioners are paid a salary.What had been an agency which has beenand must be independent of executivecontrol would now be entirely under ex-ecutive control. It is essential that the CivilService Commission be an independentwatchdog to assure fairness in public em-ployment. This proposed new structure ef-fectively eliminates the guarantees of bal-ance between labor and management andbetween political parties.

The purpose of terms of office is to in-sulate officials from being removed becausethose that appear before the agency maydislike decisions made by the agency. Thisnew structure would effectively terminatecurrent commissioners just to satisfy thecomplaints of those who are not willing towork within a fair and unbiased system.

The Governor’s proposal undermines theprinciples of the civil service system andpoliticizes an agency whose purpose is tokeep politics out of public employment. Thecivil service commission is the only placewhere individual citizens can go to ensurefair treatment in their efforts to obtain pub-lic employment and to ensure their fair treat-ment as public employees.

The effort to rush in these changes isfurther evidence that there are politicalmotivations to this proposal. It is wrong totry to make these radical changes withoutproper review and analysis by the legisla-ture. This proposal does not create efficiencyin government it merely politicizes anagency which must be independent in or-der to carry out its mission.

We therefore ask you to disapprove ofthis dismantling and politicizing of the CivilService Commission.

– Susan F. Horwitz, Esq.Sandulli Grace, PC

44 School Street, Suite 1100Boston, MA 02109

[email protected]

(continued from page B15)

Legislative Committee hears strong police unionopposition to Governor’s attack on Civil Service…

All that Heaven does, Heaven does well…(continued from page B19)

time Americans remember that old saw:“the last four letters of American areI CAN” and step up before it’s all takenaway from us.

Bringing this manifesto to a close, Iwould like to express MY opinion of a re-cent Globe article that claimed this publi-cation is racially insensitive. I will also breakmy policy of using names without permis-sion and call out Larry Ellison (who askedfor it by going to the Globe). Larry claimsdepictions of Obama are nothing more thanracist in nature. I will grant him that a doc-tored photo printed here should have beennoted as such, but that’s it! I didn’t recallhim using his bully pulpit at M.A.M.L.E.O.to express outrage when Kanye Westclaimed on National TV that George W.Bush “hates black people” Larry Ellison andrace baiters like him remind me of all the

tioned how favoritism would be combatedand how the town would be able to ensurea diverse police force.

Larsen and Police Chief TerryCunningham said with the new rules andprocedures those issued would not be aproblem.

The Wellesley Fire Department remainsa part of the state Civil Service.

See what’s going on inother cities and towns…(continued from page B9)

rain we had, they lack substance, alwaysseek out the lowest point, and when they’regone they leave a musty odor. If I criticizePresident Obama it will always be aboutpolicy not pigmentation.

Stay safe and God Bless!

Why is it?By P.O. Michael Kane,

District 18* I won’t be surprised that Obama will now

turn his attention to the ILLEGAL im-migrants in this country? He’ll tell ushow they need to be given amnesty sothey can become full and productive citi-zens. I’m sure a hand full will do justthat but the majority want to sit aroundwhile the rest of us pay for all their medi-cal bills, housing, food, schools and ev-erything else. I say show them where theborder is and tell them to get in line likeeveryone trying to come into this coun-try LEGALLY. The more “free stuff”we give to these people the more we’llcontinue to pay.

* There is sure to be water bans this sum-mer even after the record setting amountsof rain New England has received?

* Anyone would think that the Federalgovernment is going to manage OURhealthcare better than it’s done rightnow?

* I don’t have the patience to wait for therefrigerator ice maker to dispense icecubes…I just open the door and grab afew?

* The Obama administration feels the needto alienate Israel? They have been ourfriends for years but now this rookie inthe White House would rather makefriends with terrorists around the world.

* The citizens of this state must jumpthrough hoops to get federal disaster aidafter suffering damage from the recentrains, but we send billions of dollars toother countries without even knowingwhere it’s going to be spent?

* People get so angry when they drive?* Patrick Kennedy just couldn’t resist

making a fool of himself by blaming themedia for the lack of coverage they giveto the serious issues in this country? Ishe talking about the same media that hasfailed to report on all the moronic thingshis family has done?

* I just like hamburgers and steak so muchmore when they’re cooked outside on thegrill?

* Democrats thought it was very patrioticwhen they protested President Bush andhis policies, but now anyone who pro-tests against the great Obama is un-

American? Just more of their doublestandards.

* The St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast is sucha clown show? At least Billy Bulger wasquickwitted and funny.

* Some people think that Obama is not tobe criticized by the writers in the PAX?The man is an incompetent fool and anational disgrace. If you like what he’sdoing to this great country stop whiningto the media, pick up a pen and write astory on this “great President.”

* We now hear from the media how badthe healthcare reform is going to be?Doctors in short supply, lost jobs becauseof higher taxes and reduced benefits foreveryone (Boston Herald, 03-29-10).Where was the open discussion andmedia attention before this bill passed?

* Everytime I watch the TV show “Hoard-

ers” …I want to pick up around thehouse?

* Shortly after a pothole-ridden road is re-surfaced and made to look brand new…along comes the utility companies to digthe street up and start the whole processover again?

* In a published story in the Boston Her-ald on 04-04-10, “Seeking safer halls ofjustice,” Herald reporter Renee Dudleywrites of the threats of violence againstcourt personnel, disruptions in court-rooms, and how new laws will “stem therage” against the people who work in thecourt system. A problem that needs tobe addressed. Too bad she fails to men-tion the many liberal Judges in this statewho demand that Police Officers surren-der their firearms PRIOR to entering thecourtrooms leaving them defenselessagainst any attack and unable to defendanyone else. Massachusetts SuperiorCourt Justice Peter W. Agnes, Jr., Presi-dent of the Judges’ Conference, “I don’tthink they (People who enter courthousesin Massachusetts) should feel unsafe, butI think we can do some things to makethem feel even safer.” You’re right JudgeAgnes. Now go talk some sense into yourcolleagues and change this dangerousand misguided policy.Stay Safe.

* There were Drive-Ins instead of malls and apartment buildings.* You weren’t asked to tip everyone from the guy at the take out window to the crew that

dries off your car at the car wash.* Politicians actually represented the majority of their constituents.* People were ashamed to take a handout from the government.* We didn’t have cell phones.* We had to remember the phone numbers of our friends and relatives.* People thought twice about swearing in public because it was rude…especially around

women.* Kids weren’t shuttled around everywhere.* The bumpers on your car were steel and actually prevented more damage to the rest of

the car in a minor accident.* You were given something to eat on a plane…other than peanuts.* There weren’t so many cars on the road.

– PO Mike Kane, District 18

Just thinking, I usta like it when…

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www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • March/April 2010 • Page C1

PAXCENTURION Section CPAXCENTURION Section C

By Mark A. BrunoI t seemed like this past winter would never end. For some of us sitting at homewaiting for the phone to ring, it made our winter days even longer. With some of ourofficers losing pay as a result of Quinn bill cuts the season was a long one. The onlysaving grace for some was that construction permits were extended as a result ofunseasonably good weather. We are all hoping to get back in the swing of things tohelp pay those bills that got backed up. This has become par for the course for mostof us. We will all work our tails off through the spring and summer, and just whenwe are caught up, bam it’s winter.

I ’m through getting ticked off at the governor and his minions. I’ve decided thatthe best course of action is to vote against every one of these politicians in the hopesof clearing the house. I have only one problem with President Obama that is hishealth care package. The President and Vice-President have at least funneled crimebill monies into our sagging economy. Say what you will, this for some stoppedsome of the bleeding. I will tip my hat when it needs to be tipped. That being said,the governor gets beans for his efforts in regards to what he has done for and to lawenforcement. I believe Martha Coakley, healthcare program aside, would have beena better choice for law enforcement. Sometimes you bite your nose to spite yourface. In the end you have an empty suit in pretty boy Scott Brown who basically didnot make a difference on the healthcare vote. What he will do for law enforcementremains to be seen. Martha Coakley at least had proven herself to be loyal to lawenforcement.

With spring comes the sunshine, and lots of school proms and graduations topay for. Maybe it is their last year of college and you’re looking to kiss the groundand thank God. Maybe your son is getting married and finally moving out. Maybeit is your daughter getting married, and speaking of spring, guess who is springingfor the wedding? They are after all your little darlings. The never-ending list of billsseems to carry on with no end in sight. You pay one bill and up pops another. Thecycle goes on and on much like the seasons, and if spring is here, spring for themoney you will. At least stop to smell the roses, after all you paid for them.

I t seems like April showers came a little bit early this year for some of us. Howmany of you were bailing out your homes from torrential rains that fell in biblicalproportions? You fool yourself into believing it is only water, what harm can come?These are famous last words as everything in your basement has risen three feetfrom the incoming tide. Wait a minute, but we’re not at the beach! Now you run outof the house in search of a sump pump and the closest one in the state available is ona truck coming from South Carolina. All the basement specialists are booked upsolid. You’re on your own with a flooded basement, a wet furnace, and your signifi-cant other barking out orders looking for answers. At this point I would just aboutbe ready to pull the plug, if only I could find the damn thing.

You’re watching the television in hopes that the weatherman will show somemercy and come back with a forecast full of sunshine, but it is not to be. Just whenthe tide pulls out of your basement, another storm is approaching. Your thinking toyourself, is this retribution for all those comments about people blowing sunshineup my, well you know. Anyway, turns out sunshine is in the forecast for the nextweek. Your basement will dry up, the graduations and weddings will take place,and you’ll be able to work all week doing details to pay for it all. Isn’t life wonder-ful?

Be Thankful for Spring

Thanks to all who contributed to theOakland and Pittsburgh Police fundraisers

Dear Contributors:I would like to thank the entire Boston

Police Department, as well as the police de-partments of Brookline, Newton, Cam-bridge, Framingham, Winthrop, and Bos-ton College for their contributions to thefamilies of our fallen brothers from theOakland Police Department and the Pitts-burgh Police Department. Collectively, wemanaged to raise $10,140 for the sevenfamilies who lost loved ones in the pair ofsenseless tragedies early in 2009. I can tellyou that both the Oakland Police Depart-ment and the Pittsburgh Police Departmentwere overwhelmed with the effort and areforever grateful.

I would especially like to thank the Bos-ton Police Patrolmen’s Association who do-nated $1,300 in addition to raising funds attheir annual golf tournament. I would alsolike to thank the Boston Police EmeraldSociety for raising money at their annualgolf tournament. Additionally, I would liketo thank the Brookline Police Association;Officer Brian Delahanty (A-1); DetectiveFrank Pomodoro (A-7); Seargeant JamesBlake (B-2); Officer Scott Green (B-3);Officer’s Ryan Mason and Matt McCarthy(D-4); Officer Jesse Goffe (C-11); Officer

Liz Philbin (C-6); Officer Rafael Rodriguez(E-13); Officer Pat Rogers (E-18); Detec-tive Gerry Benton and Officer Matt Hogardt(Headquarters); Sergeant Rob Disario(Brookline PD); Officer John Claflin (New-ton PD); Officer Mike Logan (CambridgePD); Officer Paul Patriarca (FraminghamPD); Sergeant Roy Ferrell (Boston CollegePD); and last but not least, my dad Lieuten-ant Paul A. DeLeo, Sr. (Winthrop PD), allof whom assisted in the effort. If I forgot tothank someone, I sincerely apologize.

Many of those who attended both funeralservices know how emotional it was, beingin the company of flag-draped caskets shel-tering the heroes who were murdered do-ing the same job that we do everyday. Evenif you were not able to attend these particu-lar services, but have attended a funeral fora police officer killed in the line of duty inthe past, you know that it could be any oneof us on any given day. If you have not hadthe opportunity to attend a funeral servicefor a police officer killed in the line of duty,you should—it is a somber, eye-openingexperience and the least you can do for afamily that has lost a hero.

In closing ,I would like to say that it wasgreat to see such an outpouring of support

for our brothers who lost their lives. Hope-fully I will see many of you in Washington,D.C., this May, when the names of the sevenheroes are inscribed on the marble walls ofthe National Law Enforcement Officer’sMemorial, along with the four officers from

Lakewood, Washington, and the other 114officers killed in the line of duty in 2009who will never be forgotten.

Forever thankful,Paul A. DeLeo, Jr.

DCU, E-13

Page C2 • PAX CENTURION • March/April 2010 617-989-BPPA (2772)

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AttentionTo all members ofthe Boston PoliceRelief AssociationActive Duty or Retired

If you need to changeyour beneficiary or youare not sure of who yourbeneficiary is you cancontact the relief office at617-364-9565. If you leavea message your call will bereturned and if necessarythe paperwork will besent out to you.

Thank you,William F. Carroll, Clerk,

Boston Police ReliefAssociation

By Mark A. Bruno

This article is for serious music loversonly. For those of you who do not likeoldies read no further. My passion and

love of music runs deep. I have several thou-sand vinyl albums and 45’s. My taste goesback to the 1930’s on up through today. Iwill listen to anything that has heart and souland is full of meaning. I like rock and rollas well as the sound of Motown and Philly.There is always a special song for every-one that usually evokes an emotion, and ifplayed in the right setting, time or place,can bring the listener to tears. Like whenmy mother passed away I heard ConnieFrancis sing Mama, and I was a total wreck.Listening to some of today’s music it is nowonder kids are rebellious. They wear theirpants with the ass end two inches from theground and literally have no respect for theirparents and those around them. It’s not allabout carrying nine irons (guns) and hav-ing sex with a ho. We need to get back tobasics when it comes to what we let ourkid’s watch and listen to.

I’m not trying to step on all of the musicof today. I would not do that to my chil-dren. When they get in my car, they knowthe music I like to listen to. They respectthat, and for the most part like the music Ilisten to. When I get in their car, I showthem the same respect. I am willing to lis-ten as long as it doesn’t make me blush. Ilike taking them to the theater and concerts.Some music they like, while others theydon’t. All you can do is throw it out thereand hope some of it sticks. Music is a uni-versal language that brings generations ofpeople together. Like I said , you do nothave to like everything you hear, just beopen and give some of it a chance. This iswhat I expect from kids and I usually get it.

That being said, My sister Maureenasked me if I would like to go to the 10th

Annual Doo-Wop Hall of Fame Concert andInduction at Symphony Hall. I immediately

Let the good times rollaccepted the invitation. I love the oldies. Thelast oldie’s revival show I went to was backin the seventies or eighties at the BostonGarden which was put on by Richard Nader.

He called it “Let the Good Times Roll.” Itwas named after the song which was madefamous by Shirley & Lee. This show hadeveryone from the fifties and sixties youcould imagine. Everyone was out of theirseat dancing to Danny and the Juniors, BoDiddley and Chuck Berry. I believe theyhave these concerts on DVD and VHS. Doyourself a favor and rent it along withAmerican Hot Wax, which was about AllenFreed who coined the phrase “rock and roll.”It may not have been my era, but it certainlyset the standard for most of today’s music.

Back to the show at hand. The show washosted by Harvey Robbins who was abso-

lutely elated at being on stage with so manytalented musicians. He mentioned the pass-ing OF Johnny Maestro (of the Crests andThe Brooklyn Bridge) just two days ear-

lier. My favorite song by him was “Theworst that could happen.” He could belt itout, and with that horn section behind himit is no wonder this is an all-time favorite ofmany. The show started out with the Ca-dets/Jacks who are one in the same. Theywould release slow numbers under onename, and fast numbers under the other.Next up was Jerry Lawson who sang leadfor the famous accapella group The Persua-sions. He was backed up by the GrooveBarbers. They sang “Chain Gang” alongwith several others. They were right on themoney. Next up was Shirley Reeves fromthe original Shirelles. She hasn’t lost a beat,

and she sounded fabulous. She sang MamaSaid, Foolish Little Girl, Soldier Boy, WillYou Still Love Me Tomorrow (written byCarole King and Gerry Goffin), and Sol-dier Boy which was dedicated to troopsoverseas. Carole King is one the charactersportrayed in American Hot Wax. Her twobackup singers were great as well.

The second half of the show Had LynnBallard Williams who is the daughter ofHank Ballard, who originally wrote the“Twist,” which was later recorded byChubby Checker. Accompanying her wasguitarist Billy Davis who played with ev-eryone you could imagine. People weretwisting in the aisles, and it was great. Nextup was the Contours with original memberJoe Billingslea. They sang Do You Love Mefrom Dirty Dancing. They did a cover ofYou’ve Lost That Loving Feeling which wasabsolutely incredible. They were one of thefirst groups on Motown records. They sanga couple of more songs and paved the wayfor the Robins who had their original mem-bers. Adolf Jacobs, an original Robin, laterbecame a member of the Coasters who wasthe last act before the finale. The Coastersplayed Yakety Yak, Charlie Brown, YoungBlood and Poison Ivy. This laid back crowdswhose average age was about 65 to 70, wasabsolutely wild with excitement. Thesemusicians and singers were well into theirseventies and early eighties. They were sing-ing, dancing and having a good time. I thinkmany of us pine for the past. Growing upduring this era of music must have been soexciting. There was an older gentleman whosat behind me who was a member of TheInspirations which was a local group. Hisname was Donald Robinson, and he wasrecently nominated in 2009 for a Grammy.We talked during the break about music wayback in the day. It was a pleasure to meet himand his charming wife, and I hope to see themthere next year. For those of you who enjoyDoo-Wop, this is definitely the show to see.


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A Book Review byJames F. Lydon, Jr.

Boston Police Academy

When Boston author Chris Mooneygave me a copy of his latest thriller,

The Missing, I was very excited. I let himknow through a third party thatI would read it when Ifinished a book I was al-ready into. I said thatwhen I was done, I wouldgive The Missing a reviewin the Pax. However, whileI finished that other book, Ilent The Missing to some-one. I was horrified whenthey gave it a bad review. Idid not want to pick The Miss-ing up after that because I wasafraid that I would not like it. Idreaded trudging through it sothat I could keep my word. I alsodreaded writing an inevitable bad review.“The good news is I’ll write a review ofyour book … the bad news is …”

With a heavy heart, I picked up The Miss-ing and began to read …

Three hundred fifty-eight pages and fourdays later I put the book down. Anyone whois familiar with me should know that threehundred fifty-eight pages would normallytake me a month to read. For me to readthat fast, the book would have to be verygood. Well, The Missing was very good.

Set in Boston, The Missing tells the storyof Darby McCormick, a crime scene inves-

The Missing by Chris Mooneytigator for the Boston Police Department.Twenty-five years before, Darby survivedan attack by a brutal serial killer, an attackthat took the lives of two childhood friends.Still haunted by the incident, Darby devotes

her time to using evidence to findand help catch killers. When a se-ries of disappearances baffle thepolice and the FBI, Darby beginsto suspect that there may be a con-nection to the horror that she wentthrough back in 1984.

The book reads very well.There is more Boston flair toThe Missing than there is inmost other major crime nov-els set in Boston. Mooneydoes not reach the level ofDennis Lehane or RaffiYessayan, but he surpasses

the late Robert B. Parker.Mooney does not just throw names of

streets around to please the locals; he im-merses the reader in Boston with a skill thatmakes even the fictional seem real. One ofthe main towns used in the book is Belham,Massachusetts. Belham, which smacks ofa cross between the more urban Dedham,the highway skirting Revere, and the ru-ral Pelham, seems to be a suburb of Bos-ton. A lot of the action happens in thisimaginary town, which is Darby’s home-town and the scene of several of the dis-appearances.

Mooney gives the reader a great feel forDarby McCormick’s place in the world al-

most immediately. She is the lonelyeverywoman who forever tries to balanceher troubles, including her job, her fears,and her sick mother. She is a very likablecharacter, and I found myself rooting forher throughout the book, especially duringthe more intense chapters.

The book reads like an episode of a tele-vision crime drama. In my mind’s eye, Icould almost see the USA logo at the bot-tom of the screen. The chapters were veryquick and the excitement kept rolling at asteady pace. I love quick chapters becauseI can put the book down and be at the endof a chapter, rather than stopping in themiddle and forgetting what was going on. Idid not mind the flashy excitement and the

From theRetirees Partyat the LoganAirport Hilton,February 26,2010.

Captain RobertCunningham,Sgt. RobertDiPasquale,Sgt. ArthurMcCarthy, Sgt.John O’Connell.

quirky characters, but I can see how it mightbother people. The person who read it be-fore me had those exact problems with TheMissing. Books that flow like a televisionshow can be thought of as trashy, and mostare, but not The Missing. The Missing is anexcellent thriller that has both flash and sub-stance. It has everything a fan would needif they were looking to read a modern crimethriller. If you are looking for AgathaChristie or Ellery Queen, you might wantto look elsewhere. If you like Stuart M.Kaminsky, James Patterson, and the tele-vision shows Bones and In Plain Sight, thenyou will love The Missing. It is a smartthriller that I enjoyed completely. I highlyrecommend this book.


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It would be interesting to create a poll withthese two photos and have people guess

what’s happening. Most would never as-sume anything close to the real story. It ap-pears to be a joyous homecoming, a reunit-ing of mother and son. The truth is not soheartwarming.

The lady in the picture is the mother ofan American that was ambushed in Fallujah,Iraq. Her son was murdered. His body wasdragged around in the streets of the city, thenburned and hung from the upper trusses ofa bridge. The murderers gathered to cel-ebrate and have their photos taken with thetrophy.

The young sailor in the picture is one ofthe Navy SEALs that later captured theleader of the band of terrorist butchers andbrought him to justice.

If the story ended there, it would still bean acceptable feel-good, good-guys-winstory. Unfortunately, that’s not the case - thisNavy SEAL is facing criminal charges.

Because, somewhere along the timelineof his capture, the terrorist murderer suf-fered a school-yard fat lip, his captors arenow being charged with nothing short ofwar crimes and facing discharge and im-prisonment.

So, instead of celebration of justiceserved and heroes honored, these photosrecord betrayal, compounded mourning andthe effects of a corrupting sickness.

“It’s been very stressful,” said NavySEAL Mathew McCabe, 24, moments af-ter his arraignment in military court at Na-val Station Norfolk Monday on charges thathe allegedly mistreated an Iraqi detainee.

The mother of slain Blackwater guardJerry Zovko drove from Ohio to give eachof the accused SEALs a blessed rosary andlend them her support. “These youngSEALs are in this situation because theycaught the mastermind behind the death ofmy son, and not only my son and his co-workers but also the marines who went intoFallujah after their death,” said DonnaZovko. “I am very proud of these young

SEALs and thankful to them. They did notdo anything wrong.”

May I ramble a bit? Think out loud, soto speak? I’m trying to make some sense ofthis. What title can I give to the mentalityof a people that send their best to defendthe whole and then betray them? To whatshall I attribute the attitude of a people thathabitually prosecute their heroes while de-fending their enemies? What creates a cul-ture that allows people to vilify and isolatetheir most noble and deify their most cor-rupt?

I perceive more symptoms of a sickness,a corruption of the nation’s heart and soul.I am tempted to label it ‘liberalism’ or ‘pro-gressivism’, but those too are just symptomsof the infection. But this is nothing new, Irecognized these symptoms four decadesago in the shameful treatment of our war-riors returning from Vietnam, in the accep-tance of Marines bombed in Beirut, in theho-hum yawn of media coverage ofMogadishu (Black Hawk Down), in the re-turn to mental numbness after 9/11, pros-ecution of the Marines of Haditha, assaultof recruiters across the country, anti-warprotesters at the gates of Walter Reed ArmyHospital...

This sickness, this infection has goneuntreated for far too long. Americans are atolerant bunch. We’ve patiently waited forthe ingrates among us to grow up and de-velop a sense of pride and awe in the great-ness of America. It’s not happening.

I’m tired of waiting. I’m fresh out of tol-erance. There comes a time when the treat-ment for an infection cannot be postponedany longer, lest the patient die. Through his-tory how many nations have habitually be-trayed their defenders and survived?

Donna and I left our home at 4:00 am ,Monday morning and drove to Norfolk. Wewere in the company of four other patriotsfrom the Raleigh area:

Don Gray of Military Appreciation Dayand NC Gathering of Eagles.

Patrick Holbrook, NC Gathering ofEagles.

Russell Pope,NCFreedom.us

Randy Dye, Randy’sRight Blog andNCFreedom.us

We joined a hundred ormore others at Gate 5 ofthe Norfolk Naval Base todemonstrate support forNavy SEAL MathewMcCabe. Here are myphotos.

The abuse of political correctness

I met the SEAL’s father, Marty McCabe.After the arraignment hearings, McCabe came out to meet his supporters.

Thank you, Mathew McCabe, foryour service to our country!



Walmart people

Sports Trivia: Bill Carroll?

(see answers on page C14)

Match the state with its nickname

United States Trivia: Bill Carroll?

(see answers on page C14)

1. What retired majorleaguer holds the recordfor hitting the most homeruns in his first ten yearsin the league?

2. Who holds the NFL record for most points after touch-downs in a season?

3. What NFL team holds the record for consecutivegames without allowing a sack?

4. Who is the oldest major leaguer on a 2010 openingday roster?

5. In 2005, what major league batting champion hit .405on the road enroute to a final average of .372?

6. What major league pitcher has a chance to break theall time record for home runs allowed during the 2010season?

7. Who hit the first home run in the “old ” Yankee Sta-dium?

8. Who pitched the only opening day no-hitter in MajorLeague Baseball history?

9. Who holds the major league record for reaching forconsecutive games reaching base by either a hit, walk,or hit by pitch?

10. Who holds the individual major league record for themost stolen bases during the month of April?

How many can you get correct?

1. Michigan A. The Old Line State2. Vermont B. The Beehive State3. California C. The Last Frontier4. Idaho D. The Palmetto State5. Florida E. The Beaver State6. New Jersey F. The Treasure State7. West Virginia G. The Buckeye State8. North Carolina H. The Sunflower State9. Montana I. The Gem State10. Nevada J. The Golden State11. Mississippi K. The Mountain State12. Alaska L. The Wolverine State13. Colorado M. The Prairie State14. Oregon N. The Green Mountain State15. Alabama O. The Mt. Rushmore State16. Illinois P. The Tar Heel State17. Ohio Q. The Silver State18. Maryland R. The Centennial State19. Arizona S. The Yellowhammer State20. Kentucky T. The Grand Canyon State21. South Carolina U. The Land of Enchantment22. Kansas V. The Sunshine State23. South Dakota W. The Bluegrass State24. Utah X. The Magnolia State25. New Mexico Y. The Garden State


United States Nicknames(see questions on page C13)

Trivia Answers ?

1.Michigan.....................The Wolverine State2.Vermont.......................The Green Mountain State3.California.....................The Golden State4.Idaho...........................The Gem State5.Florida.........................The Sunshine State6.NewJersey..................The Garden State7.West Virginia...............The Mountain State8.North Carolina.............The Tar Heel State9.Montana......................The Treasure State

10.Nevada.........................The Silver State11.Mississippi...................The Magnolia State12.Alaska.........................The Last Frontier13.Colorado......................The Centennial State14.Oregon.........................The Beaver State15.Alabama......................The Yellowhammer State16.Illinois.........................The Prairie State17.Ohio............................The Buckeye State18.Maryland.....................The Old Line State

19.Arizona........................The Grand Canyon State20.Kentucky.....................The Bluegrass State21.South Carolina.............The Palmetto State22.Kansas.........................The Sunflower State23.South Dakota...............The Mt. Rushmore State24.Utah.............................The Beehive State25.New Mexico................The Land of Enchantment

Sports(see questions on page C13)

1.Braves third baseman Eddie Matthewshit 370 home runs in his first ten sea-sons to hold the major league recordfor the most dingers in his first ten sea-sons.

2.The NFL record for most PAT’s in aseason is held by Patriots kickerStephen Gostowski who nailed 74 dur-ing the 2007 regular season.

3.The NFL record for most consecutivegames without allowing a sack is heldby the 1988-89 Miami Dolphins at 19games.

4.The oldest player on a major league ros-ter at the beginning of the 2010 seasonis Phillies southpaw Jamie Moyer at 47years old.

5.Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki hit.405 on the road when he won the 2005American League batting title with a.372 average.

6.The major league career record for al-lowing the most home runs is held byPhillies Hall of Fame right handerRobin Roberts with 505, Phillies leftyJamie Moyer has allowed 491 enter-ing the 2010 season.

7.The first home run hit in the “old “ Yan-kee Stadium was a three run shot byBabe Ruth on April 18, 1923.

8.The only opening day no- hitter inmajor league history was thrown byIndians Hall of Fame right hander BobFeller on April 16, 1940 against theWhite Sox.

9.The major league record for consecu-tive games reaching base by a hit, walk,or hit by pitch is held by Red Sox Hallof Famer Ted Williams who in 1949reached base in 84 straight games.

10.The major league record for most sto-len bases in the month of April is heldby Hall of Famer Rickey Hendersonwho had 22 steals while playing for theOakland Athletics in April of 1982.



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Pax Centurion - March/April 2010