Dear Editor,
Of the many troubles, missteps, and scandals Mayor Rivera is responsible for, his failure to negotiate union contracts in good faith, especially for police officers, has the potential for negative consequences for the community.
The police unions have been attempting to negotiate with the mayor but thus far have been unsuccessful. The mayor would paint the police officers as being over paid and money hungry. The cuts he is proposing will provide no improvement to public safety or significant savings for the city. He may attempt to rationalize the cuts by claiming the city needs to find ways to save money but need for his cuts does not seem to add up.
The mayor is touting the surplus generated under his administration as one of his achievements. He has hired new police officers and added a significant financial liability to the city. If there is insufficient money to at least level fund the police department without cutting into the contract, how is there sufficient money to sustain the new hires?
Funding the new officer positions is not the greatest immediate problem facing the city and public safety. It is the response being triggered by police officers at Mayor Rivera’s refusal to negotiate in good faith. The rumored response is a work shutdown at the police department. That should be alarming to everyone.
Police officers cannot strike but they may, given certain factors, reduce the amount of quantifiable work they perform. Quotas are unconstitutional. Call volume in the city is very high. There is often little time to be proactive. If officers are only responding to calls they are not able to address other issues such as quality of life complaints, traffic enforcement, or officer initiated investigations. Officer will also be reluctant to become involved in enforcement when they are also considering their response time to assist other officers who may be in need of back-up.
There is no sure way to prove that there is an organized effort to slow the work. The supervisors do suspect it. Request all of the email communication from Chief Fitzpatrick and Captain McNamara. There were reportedly email communication to the department that addressed the work stoppage or slow-down. This will be evidence enough that Mayor Rivera has, once again, misled the public with regard to the level of morale within the department.
I cannot fault officers for this. They have not received a cost of living increase in years and Mayor Rivera wants to cut more from their contract. This simply does not make sense.
Lawrence Police Officers risk their lives in the service of the community. The least we should expect from the Mayor of Lawrence is that he treats them with respect and acknowledges their service, negotiates a contract in good faith and, by doing so, makes strides to make Lawrence safer.
