Police Union

After months of negotiations, city officials and the Baltimore police union have hammered out a deal that would cut $5 million from the police budget while bringing long-sought changes to shift schedules. Under the new agreement, which must be ratified by union members, officers would no longer be forced to work six-day weeks and would gain an average of seven days of vacation, though they would not be paid for five of those days, making them de facto furlough time. The plan would control the number of officers who could take off on a given day, limiting the amount of overtime needed to fill vacant shifts.

Members of the Baltimore police union unanimously rejected last night a city contract proposal that would have given them a 2 1/4 percent pay raise and formally implemented a controversial "rotation policy," both bitter points of contention with union leaders.At the urging of their union bosses, officers voted down the proposal by a resounding 1,477-38. The turnout was the union's largest ever for a contract vote, said Lt. Leander S. Nevin, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3."

Ten days ago, the Baltimore police union sent out 4,594 ballots for its election, in which five of a dozen board of director positions are being contested. As of yesterday, only 30 people had sent them back and voted. Labor officials aren't blaming apathy. Rather, they say, most current and retired members - including union President Gary McLhinney - never received a ballot in the first place. They think the post office has lost them. "Nobody is willing to help beyond giving us lip service," McLhinney said yesterday.

The union representing Baltimore police officers is suing the department, alleging that it is illegally withholding files of the department's investigation into whether promotional exams were tainted.The lawsuit, filed in Circuit Court by Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, demands the files so the union can "determine whether a proper investigation was conducted and whether there was a legitimate basis for the commissioner to close the investigation."Robert W. Weinhold Jr., a city police spokesman, declined to comment on the suit because it is pending litigation.

Rank-and-file police officers say they will go along with the Neall administration's request to delay contract talks until January because of the county's financial problems.The county's six employee unions have been warned that the administration would come to the bargaining table with a list of concession demands if forced to negotiate this year.The president of Lodge 70 of the Fraternal Order of Police, Detective John Ogle, said the "overwhelming" vote by about 100 members Tuesday night demonstrates union support for County Executive Robert R. Neall's efforts to maintain services during the recession.

Baltimore's police union wants to jettison a decades-old contract provision that requires the city to give firefighters the same pay raises that police officers receive, hoping the move will clear the way for larger pay increases. The police union leadership filed a lawsuit against the city last week on grounds that the parity or "me too" provisions of the fire unions' contract puts the police in the position of "indirectly" negotiating for fire wages, according to the complaint filed in Baltimore Circuit Court.

LOS ANGELES -- One rests atop Vergee's Palace de Bella Donna, beyond a sister billboard for "Naked Gun 33 1/3 " near Crenshaw and 48th -- a few blocks west of the vortex of the 1992 riots. It shows a man, masked and menacing, aiming his gun at an unsuspecting woman as she approaches her car."Warning: This Can Be You Without the Police Dept.," the billboard, placed by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, declares.The advertisement led to criticism a week ago, when the league, the police union, which is locked in a prolonged contractual dispute with the city, put up 22 of them along the city's most frequented roadways.

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by the Fraternal Order of Police, five police officers and one retired officer seeking to overturn a 1996 change in the Anne Arundel County pension law limiting cost-of-living increases that could be added to their benefits.Judge Andre M. Davis in U.S. District Court in Baltimore dismissed the suit last week but left open the possibility the plaintiffs could challenge the law in state court. The officers sued stop the county from enacting the law in December 1996.

NEW ORLEANS -- A police union official and a lawyer for officers accused in the beating of a retired teacher sharply disputed yesterday the man's contention he was brutalized during his arrest, which was captured on video. Attorney Frank DeSalvo said the video shows a truncated version of the Saturday night arrest and he disputed details the video appears to have captured, including whether the 64-year-old suspect was punched in the face. "I see an incident of a man trying to be brought under control who doesn't want to be brought under control," DeSalvo said.

Unable to agree on work schedules and benefits for Howard County police union officers after six weeks of contract talks, county officials and union representatives have asked an arbitrator to help resolve their differences.The two sides hope to revive negotiations next week, but police union sources said the county must be more flexible to keep the average police officer interested in working in Howard County."The bottom line is we want our officers to stay here," said James Fitzgerald, president of the Howard County Police Officers Association.