The Corrupted Cash Cow for Cops - Assignment Example

Police Details: The Corrupted Cash Cow for Cops English 101 Prof. E. Suffolk December 5th, 2008 Police Details: The Corrupted Cash Cow for Cops You are driving home from work. Almost home, you turn onto a side street. You know this street quite well, as you always take the same route home. A residential area, this street has little traffic and a speed limit of 30 miles per hour. As you drive, you notice the all too familiar signs of road construction. Like most people, once seeing the “construction ahead” sign, as well as the workers and big orange trucks, you step off the gas pedal and begin to slow. In 49 states of the United States, you would also see a civilian or a certified flagger. However, you do not live in those states. Rather, you live in Massachusetts and see a police officer directing traffic. No big deal, right? In theory, police officers would be the most qualified for directing and influencing drivers. However, by analyzing accident statistics as well the cost of having police officers direct traffic, one may find that the cost is simply too high. In short, the possible benefit of police details simply does not outweigh the actual cost to businesses and consumers. For the people of Massachusetts, it seems like detail work has always been done by police officers. Whether a road is being paved, a pothole being filled, or any type of construction that may affect the roadways, police officers have been the most likely candidate to direct traffic. Many people believe that using police officers is safer than using flagmen. However, there are many different things to consider when making this argument. In 2004, extensive studies were performed in order to measure how much safer roadways are with police officers rather than flagmen. By comparing the accident rate between Massachusetts and other states that do not use police for details, one finds that it is no safer to drive in Massachusetts than any other state (BHI Policy Study.) Despite the use of police details, the accident rates in Massachusetts are some of the highest in the nation. Property damage and bodily harm due to accidents is the highest in Massachusetts than any other state. Interestingly, from the years 1994 to 2003, Massachusetts ranked third of all states in terms of lowest fatality rate in highway work zones (BHI Policy Study.) These statistics show that although police detail work is beneficial in the safety of high-speed road construction, the safety in lower speed road construction does not prove to be any better. With this data, it is not surprising that state officials and politicians are now looking into regulating when and where police details should be used, and when and where flagmen would be suitable. As many people know, the state of Massachusetts is suffering from financial strain. Since 2001, the state has been going through a deep recession, losing about 11 percent of employment and over 200,000 jobs (Gavin.) It is projected that Massachusetts will continue to lose jobs until around 2010, and this year alone, there is a projected job loss of 4 percent (Gavin.) Due to the state’s financial strain, state officials are eager to find ways to cut back expenses and improve job growth. One of the most obvious ways to cut back on expenses is limiting the use of police details. State leaders are already targeting the use of police details in order to restore economic growth. For decades, police have been used for construction projects without question. The practice that was once seen as necessary and just a fact of life is now being questioned by some of the highest-ranking state officials. On March 27th of this year, Governor Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi met together at the Beacon Hill press conference, announcing the agreement to create new regulations that would encourage officials to use civilian flaggers during low-risk construction projects (Viser.) This plan would focus on low traffic areas such as dead-end streets. Although there would only be an initial $5 million a year in savings, these plans and regulations can prove to be a start in the right direction. It may seem that state officials and the Governor will be successful in reforming policies on police details. However, there is an equal if not greater force that opposes the change. In November of 2008, Boston city officials met at City Hall and discussed whether or not to join the force of cutting back on police details. The verdict formed by officials and police union leaders proved that Boston would not be going along with the change (Drake.) Although there are no official state laws that require police be used in construction, many cities in Massachusetts have their own ordinances that encourage and sometimes require the practice. In Boston, an ordinance was adopted in 1966 that requires police details for street openings (Yoon.) In Boston alone, $30 dollars was spent on police details in construction (Drake.) It seems that in order to change the current trends for detail work, the public will have to come together and voice their concerns to city officials. Many argue that taxpayers do not pay for the cost of police detail work. It is true that the money to pay for police officers on detail does not directly come from local or state taxes. However, the cost is still passed down to the consumer. A representative of the company Verizon said that they paid $18 million last year statewide, and $2 million in Boston alone (Drake.) Although taxpayers do not have to pay for these millions, it is unquestionable that the additional cost had to have been passed down to costumers. It is not only private corporations that pay more in order to have police officers at their construction sites. Public works are also affected by the practice. City public works estimated a savings of $1.5 to $2 million if civilian flaggers were used rather than police officers (Drake.) It is the people of Massachusetts that pay for these construction costs in the form of higher utility bills. It is obvious that not only companies are being affected by higher construction cost, rather the people of Massachusetts’s cities are the ones who ultimately pay the price. A remaining question in this issue is just how much exactly could be saved if the use of police officers working details was decreased. The cost savings would be found from the decrease in hourly wages that would need to be paid to flagmen. Police officers performing detail work are paid $34.70 on average, while the average for a certified flagger is $21.11. The hourly rate of a civilian flagger would bring even greater savings, as their average hourly rate is just under $10 (BHI Policy.) It is clear to see that significant savings would be made by hiring flaggers rather than police officers to perform low-risk traffic directing. In 2008, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts estimated a projected savings if plans were put in place to regulate the use of police details. Based on statistics and studies, the projected savings for the state could be between $5.7 and $7.2 million (Commonwealth.) It is also important to note that if flaggers were to be used, their hourly wages would most likely decrease in order to compete with business. The decrease in hourly rate would raise the savings for construction costs significantly. There is simply no reason to have police officers perform detail work when the safety risk is not significant and when there are other people who need work and would do the job for less money. With the economic crisis facing the United States, it is important that jobs be created. By hiring new people to direct traffic, there will be more families that directly benefit from the money being distributed to people other than police officers. Another issue facing this topic is the idea of decreasing police officers’ salary. There is no question that officers perform some of the hardest and most difficult jobs in the world. However, there is no reason that police officers should be paid to do jobs that other people could and should do. In fact, there have been many known instances in which police officers take advantage of detail work. It is important to look at the corruption in the police force when it comes to police details. Many police officers can make several thousand dollars more a year from working at construction sites. One police officer, David Silvia, made over $40,000 from police detail work alone in 2007 (Brennan.) In Cape Cod, police officers make an average of $9,418 each for police detail work. While it’s true that most of this money is paid for from private companies, more than $400,000 was paid for by the city itself (Brennan.) Although police officers deserve to make a significant salary that reflects their hard work and commitment, it should not come from low-risk detail work. Police officers belong to a union, and so it should be assumed that if the average salary decreased significantly with regulations on police details, there would be other ways that officers could fight to get the compensation that they deserve. It is not fair to line the wallets of police officers while other men and women could be working at construction sites, and when the money comes from the pockets of consumers. When looking at corruption, it is not enough to simply look at the additional money that police officers can make by doing detail work. The manner in which many officers go about their work is very significant in the argument. Many people would admit to seeing police officers on construction duty not doing the job to their fullest capability. There are many comments of seeing police officers talking on their cell phones, sitting in their cars, and even sleeping while on detail work. Unfortunately, this is not where the corruption ends when it comes to police detail work. It seems that with any opportunity, there will always be those who will take advantage. There have been many instances in which police officers are found to be abusing the system of police details. In 2007, a Boston police sergeant, Jacqueline Creavan, was found to have violated terms of police details by lying about the hours she worked and making side deals. According to Creavan, however, the entire department was guilty of similar crimes. It is also interesting to note that while her base salary was $62,299, she had made $146, 975 in 2006 from working details as well as overtime (Conte.) Whether a respectable salary for a police officer is 62 or 146 grand is debatable, but most would agree that no one should be paid for work they have not done. There have been other cases similar to this, in which officers would call in sick on the same days that they worked details. By doing this, officers could collect both sick pay as well as detail pay. Additionally, there have been hundreds of instances where police officers collected money for working in two different places at once or were paid for overlapping shifts (Slack.) It is absolutely unacceptable for anybody to lie about when or how long they have worked in order to receive more money. If police details are not regulated and controlled, it will be all the more difficult to stop these kinds of injustices happening from those who are supposed to uphold the law. The question of whether or not to regulate police detail work is still being debated today. The controversial issue is not likely to be resolved quickly, as there are so many opposing arguments to the debate. However, when one looks at the facts and money related to police details, it is not hard to see that this type of work needs to be regulated. Massachusetts stands out in the country for so many ways, but it should not stand out due to the wasted money from the practice of police detail work. The solution to hard questions is never easy, but solutions are necessary in maintaining healthy growth and prosperity. Works Cited BHI Policy Study. Police Details in Massachusetts: Protection or Perk? Nov 2004. The Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research. Suffolk University. 20 Nov 2008. Brennan, George. Cashing in On Road Details. 20 Jul 2008. Cape Cod Times. Cape Cod Media Group, Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. 22 Nov 2008. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works. Road Flagger & Police Detail Cost Report & Analysis. 9 Sept 2008. St. 2008, c. 86, 10. 22 Nov 2008. Conte, Frank. Paid Police Details, a Massachusetts Ritual and Ripoff. 18 Aug 2007. From the Ground Up. Blogspot. Drake, John C. Keep Police Details in Boston City Hall, Officials and Union Demand. 14 Nov 2008. Googlefreshnews. 23 Nov 2008. Gavin, Robert. Massachusetts is Projected to Lose 135,000 Jobs. 20 November 2008. The Boston Globe. NY Times Co. 23 November 2008. Slack, Donovan. Politicians Unlikely to Alter Police Details. 10 Sept 2004. The Boston Globe. Citizens for Limited Taxation. CLT Update. Viser, Matt. State Takes Aim at Police Details. 28 March 2008. Boston Globe. NY Times Co. 22 Nov 2008. Yoon, Sam. Let’s Explore the Options About Police Details. 5 Nov 2008. Wicked Local Roslindale. GateHouse Media, Inc. 22 Nov 2008. Read More