City Council approves funding for new Boston police contract

The Boston City Council voted Wednesday to approve funding for the city’s new police contract, which contains reforms regarding paid detail work, discipline, and more. 

The five-year collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association was announced last week. It was the subject of a hearing Tuesday, where councilors asked officials in the Wu administration about the agreement and its potential impact on public safety. 

“As the administration testified today, collective bargaining agreements are always a give-and-take. This is a first step in some reforms,” Councilor Brian Worrell, who chaired the hearing, said in a statement afterward. “I’m grateful for the changes that the union and BPD agreed upon.”

The previous contract expired on June 30, 2020. Collective bargaining between the BPPA and the Wu administration began “in earnest” in March 2022, officials said. The new agreement covers the period from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2025. It will cost an estimated $82.3 million, a 21% increase over the whole period. 

One notable aspect of the contract designates a list of offenses for the first time that will not be eligible for arbitration. Boston police officers facing disciplinary actions can seek arbitration, a process that can sometimes result in those actions being overturned. Officers indicted for these offenses and those who are the subject of a sustained Internal Affairs finding that is upheld would not be able to seek arbitration. The list of offenses includes murder, rape, drug trafficking, hate crimes, and kidnapping. 

“[The contract] makes some very significant changes to removing arbitration as a loophole that was used to avoid or override disciplinary decisions of the commissioner,” Mayor Michelle Wu said during an appearance Tuesday on the GBH program “Boston Public Radio.” Wu said that this is putting “our money where our mouth is in ensuring that our officers are held to the highest standards of accountability for those who are sworn to protect and serve.”

Despite voting in favor of the agreement Wednesday, councilors Kendra Lara and Ricardo Arroyo both said that they were disappointed that other offenses were not included on the list. Both said that domestic assault and battery should have been included. Arroyo said he would have liked to see more drug charges and fraud included, while Lara mentioned her wish that the use of excessive force was included. 

“If you go down the list of offenses that’s there now, and you take a look at all of the offenses that Boston Police Department officers have been found guilty for or have lost their jobs for, you will see that not a lot operationally will change with the list that is in front of us,” Lara said. 

Another major reform included in the agreement revolves around who can work paid details for events or construction sites that disrupt traffic in Boston. Previously BPD officers were the only ones who could work these details. About 37% of details go unfilled, city officials said during the hearing. They were covered by “mandated overtime at significant cost to the department and the city,” according to officials. 

“The reforms, particularly the changes to police details, have been sought for decades and should result in safer streets for the city as more details will now be filled. In addition to increasing public safety, this new detail policy will create a significant number of new jobs,” Worrell said in a statement. 

Now, details will be categorized by priority. Those deemed “high priority” are at events and activities that pose a substantial risk to public safety, such as those at highly attended events or at busy intersections. These will be filled first with a higher hourly compensation.

If details go unfilled by active BPD officers, they can now be filled by BPD retirees, Boston Housing Authority police officers, and college/university police officers. If the detail is still unfilled after being offered to these groups, it can be filled by Boston Municipal Protective Services Officers and Sergeants and contracted civilian personnel. The Wu administration said these changes will help improve traffic flow and create economic opportunities. 

Lara praised the changes but took issue with the fact that some of these groups do not have Boston residency requirements. 

“There are people in our city who need jobs, families who are struggling. If we’re going to invest our resources in ensuring that the members of the Boston Police Department are being paid adequately and are receiving their raises and are being commended for the work that they’re doing with all of the benefits that are afforded to them in this contract, we have to make sure that we’re doing that for the benefit of the people of the city of Boston,” she said during Wednesday’s meeting. 

The contract includes base wage increases to reflect cost of living adjustments and expands the number of educational programs that BPD officers can participate in to receive salary incentives. 

Arroyo said he was pleased with much of what is included in the new contract and hopes to see more reform in the future. 

“[I am] very happy that they were able to come to a compromise, very happy that they were able to come to an agreement on what compensation should look like and what civilian details should look like,” he said. “My hope is that this opens the door to stronger reforms moving forward.”