Posted on 10/26/2004 3:09:37 PM PDT by Momaw Nadon
DANVERS — Patrolmen have cost the town $173,000 by refusing to write traffic tickets in a ploy to influence contract negotiations, top police brass and town management officials allege in a complaint filed with the state last week.
Town officials claim police union members are handing out warnings rather than tickets in an effort to cost the town money and gain leverage at the bargaining table, according to their complaint to the state Labor Relations Commission. The 44-strong police union has gone nearly a year-and-a-half without a new contract in a dispute over raises.
But at least on police union official has accused the town of buttressing its case with "immoral and unethical behavior."
The union has demanded a 3 percent raise for fiscal year 2004. The town, citing huge cuts in state aid during that year, first offered no pay increase as part of a new contract.
Money brought in from traffic citations is put into the town's general fund and used for expenses or to cut the tax rate.
During the first nine months of 2003, Danvers police issued 2,069 traffic citations with fines. During the first nine months of 2004, only 254 traffic fines have been issued, according to the complaint. At the same time, the number of warnings issued has soared.
Nonunion police brass and town employees began investigating a drop in citations after they became apparent late last winter. The resulting accusations were based on the plummeting number of tickets, threats allegedly made by union leaders and e-mails sent among union members using the town's Internet service.
Police union President Dana "Mike" Hagan, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, told Town Attorney Brian Callahan and other members of the bargaining team last December that "If the town continues to insist on no raise for the first year, then the $255,000 in traffic fees can change," according to a passage in the complaint.
As part of its body of evidence, the town also includes copies of e-mails sent to police union members from a computer at police headquarters.
"... Union members have to stick together ... stay the course ... it is not going to be easy ... and will definitely be long/drawn out. Officers are reminded ... police officers may use discretion when issuing traffic citations," reads a portion of a message attributed to Hagan.
The town is asking the state labor commission to order the union to end the silent strike and begin writing tickets "in accordance with longstanding department policy," Town Manager Wayne Marquis said. The complaint also asks the police union be required to pay for lost ticket revenue — estimated at $173,388 and counting.
Marquis said the town may have to trim this year's budget to reflect the lost revenue.
"If this is a trend that continues in 2005, it would have serious ramifications for our ability to maintain a balanced budget or set the tax rate," Marquis said. "From a revenue perspective, the numbers speak for themselves, but just as important, traffic citations serve as a deterrent. The public's safety is at stake if the public felt we don't take (traffic enforcement) seriously."
Detective Carole Germano, the union's vice president, called the allegations "ludicrous."
Traffic fines may be down, but traffic-related arrests and other police activities are all on the rise, proof that the union members are doing their jobs, Germano said.
"It seems they are trying to generate more revenue for the town by ticketing their citizens," Germano said, "and I don't think that is the way they should go about it."
Germano also protested the tapping of e-mails between officers as a source for these charges. Surveillance of union activities is prohibited by law, she said.
"I believe management has engaged in immoral and unethical behavior," Germano said. "Employee rights, particularly those of our union members, have been violated."
Marquis said the union members' correspondence were written on town computers and delivered using town software, and so were fair game to be used as part of the investigation.
Police Chief Stuart Chase referred all questions about the complaint to the town manager. Union attorney Paul Hynes did not return phone calls yesterday.
While the town has filed arbitration requests occasionally with the state commission — it's currently in arbitration with the police union, as well as other unions — it's never before filed a request for a strike investigation.
"We usually have very few because, as you know, it is illegal for public employees to strike," said Edward Srednicki, executive secretary for the Labor Relations Commission. "We get maybe three a year."
A hearing before the state commission has been set for 10 a.m. next Tuesday. The commission would likely issue a judgment a few days later. But it would be nonbinding. Should the town or union wish to the decision to be enforced, they would have to file a case in Superior Court, Srednicki said.
Selectmen Chairman Michael Powers said town officials approached union leadership several times to request they halt the covert strike before filing the official complaint.
Powers said he wasn't concerned the police union's actions could hamper public safety.
"It's a financial situation," Powers said. "But the police are issuing warnings so it doesn't become a public safety issue."
"The Police Department continues to do a quality job on day-to-day activity," Powers added. "This is one element of their job. Everything else is as it should be, so people are getting the services they are expecting of police."
Ummm... it's not costing the town money - it just means that the projected amount of money coming in will be less. But, the town isn't losing money - they are legally stealing LESS. Big difference.
HA HA HA, the Blue Flu strikes again. It couldn't happen in a better place than Massachusettes.
Who to support? The union cops who are (unintentionally) weaning the local politicos from the legalized extortion known as traffic tickets? Or the politicians who are not bowing down to the union?
Ok, so by not writing tickets, they are causing the towns revenue to be down, the town is attempting to keep the tax rates low but due to decreased revenue they are going to have to raise the taxes, and since these officers are members of the community, will be forking additional monies from their paychecks for taxes. So in escence, they are paying for the tickets themselves.
I love it when articles like these pop out which clearly admit that tickets serve more the purpose of generating revenue than to enforce the law.
This is much like Illinois' Governor Rod Blagojevich signing the "left lane" law which is impossible to abide by given the traffic congestion around the Chicago area. It isn't a law intended to make any improvement in traffic safety... it's a law to generate revenue.
I for one find this comment disgusting. By saying "It has COST the town" Implies that there was some form of pecuniary loss to the town government.
Are they then implying that writing tickets is a form of revenue then? What then can be said about the patrolmen? Are they but income generators?
Town officials claim police union members are handing out warnings rather than tickets in an effort to cost the town money...
Now the truth comes out of it. Seems to me that at one time Police were to ENFORCE the law, and not ENHANCE the coffers. the rest of the article is just a description of two sides posing against one another for barganing position, but those two phrases stuck out in my mind. Results may vary...
Akorahil
I watched a bellevue meter maid write a traffic ticket today to a vehicle whos back bumper stuck out six inches south of a sign that said "no parking south of here." It looked pretty sleazy to me.
"It's a financial situation," Powers said. "But the police are issuing warnings so it doesn't become a public safety issue."
In other words, traffic fines have no safety purpose, and are issued strictly as a means for the municipality (and incidentally, the insurance industry) to make money. Everyone knows this but it is rare to hear an official admit it.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Good thing to see that you and I see the same thing on this. Freepers never fail to amaze me at how canny we can be. Nor do Freepers fail me at how common we all think.
Akorahil
Yup. That's pretty sleazy, alright... But, if it generates revenue, then the government is happy...
Trivial ticket writers, be they cop or meter maid, are lower than whale shit at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.
That is lame. I beat a parking ticket for precisely the same thing.
More proof that the most cops are really sent out to fleece the public rather than serve.
A Sterling Heights, Michigan cop wrote a bunch of tickets for people not having their parking brakes set in their driveway. The public was powerless to rid them selves of this character.
Once these cops in Danvers get a bigger cut of the loot, they will be back to their regular ways.
To bad real cops are mixed in with the "revenue agents" parading around as cops.
Then traffic tickets aren't "fines", really. They're more like selective taxes that can raise your auto-insurance.
Think about that. A municipality issues a ticket to collect revenue, which then gives your auto insurance company reason to charge you more for insurance. This amounts to a kickback of sorts.
All of this falls in line with "ticket quotas" that are rarely ever admitted to, although some officers have... especially in towns in the Chicago burbs like (this one's for the search engines) Westchester, Hillside, Berkeley, STONE PARK, STONE PARK, STONE PARK (not a town, really, but a speedtrap to itself), LaGrange, Bensenville, Oakbrook Terrace.... and a few others.
(I reserve the right to my opinion and if STONE PARK doesn't like it, tough.)
173K in parking revenue for a town the size of Danvers seems like a lot of $$$ to me.
The average ticket is probably $30.00 I assume. That would be over 5000 tickets.
Danvers is a town located in Essex County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 25,212. The town was formerly named Salem Village. Most of the early victims and accusers of the 1692 Salem witch trials lived here. While early depositions and interviews took place in Salem Village starting in February, the actual trials and a majority of depositions and interviews were moved to Salem in May.
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Danvers,-Massachusetts
I suspect the average ticket is more like $70. But the real cost is the insurance surcharge. I have never had one but I suspect it will cost more than $500.00.
How can they regulate driving behavior on private property? You don't even need to have your car registered if you don't drive it on "public" roadways. What's next, speeding tickets for Nascar drivers?
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