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Local
724 Political News
February Update Low morale and micromanaging with over the shoulder supervision of restrictive policies and practices has resulted in department wide risk aversion, a practice defined by former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton as, " low organizational performance and a decrease in proactive enforcement tactics and arrests". Poor morale coupled with a kill the messenger philosophy, plausible deniability tactics, breakdown in communication, large number of grievances and culture of distrust are just some of the danger signs of NLPD's organizational problems. Daily headlines of political interference, unfounded harassment and gender discrimination charges, secret employment deals, ongoing investigations, suspensions, administrative leaves, terminations and forced retirements have resulted in our younger officers leaving the department for other agencies as fast as possible. These vacancies come at a tremendous cost to a city that can least afford it, especially in light of recent claims the city is broke. We are losing highly trained and experienced officers. To train a new police officer takes an investment of approximately $75,000 per recruit for salary and benefits. We have lost seven officers since January 1st and an estimated 14 since June 2009, with several more actively seeking to lateral for other agencies as soon as possible. NLPD will need $525,000 just to replace the seven officers already gone plus a full year's time needed to recruit, select, hire and train each of them not to mention lost initial training costs of those that have left and future patrol overtime to cover their vacancies. These resignations hurt the future of the department with such high turnover in a short period of time. We lost and are losing good seasoned police officers each of whom have attributed their resignations to being fed up with the direction of our department. Arguably there is a direct cause and effect relationship to the services being delivered by officers and we can't afford to keep bleeding off personnel. With so much distrust and breakdown in communications we can't even agree with the administration on the issues or required solutions. Members have repeatedly said there are problems within the department , the administration and outsiders publicly suggest any issues are rooted to "institutional resistance" to their ideas insisting that this moment in time is just setting the compass for a new organizational heading and welcome those leaving as not part of this new direction. The last meeting between the Union and Mayor ended with his promise of a 10 point plan to address the morale problems. To date no plan has been received. Since the current situation can't fix itself I offer this suggestion;
that the Mayor and/or City Council solicit neutral nationally recognized
expert(s) in police administration to independently review the issues
of contention between union and management and propose an appropriate
fix .
January Political Update After a seemingly quiet December, January began without warning or discussion with confusion, chaos and crisis at NLPD as union members scramble to stay out of harm's way as we abruptly learned the police department was in need of a reorganization and within days three command staff were gone. Deputy Chief Chip Segar, Captain Bill Dittman and Captain Mike Lacey represented over 85 years police service and institutional knowledge at NLPD were shown the door. Both captains had almost 30 years experience as division commanders with too many accomplishments to list in this forum. They were retirement eligible and secured incentives to collect pensions immediately. Chip with only 21 years was not vested for full retirement as he was unceremoniously escorted from the building after being told he was fired. Not to dwell on negativity of how he was removed, I want to highlight the loss of Chip Segar, admittedly a close friend. That being said... Chip was the quintessential leader who was the face and embodiment of NLPD. As union president he brought the union to new heights of excellent labor relations with several contract agreements that improved working conditions, salary and benefits for our members. He was an effective representative for members grievances and he broadened our reach and influence with other organized labor leaders and politicians, both necessary ingredients for successful union activity.
As a shift commander Chip was able to balance the operational needs of the agency with that of his subordinates and often a favored squad to work with. Sure he had bad days like anyone else, but more often than not he was the one who solved problems rather than making them, reach out to an adversary if it meant finding a solution, the guy to be first to organize a party, celebrate another's good fortune and first to offer a helping hand and condolences when tragedy struck. As Deputy Chief he was the public face of the department as public information officer and more often than not arrive on scene of most events to lead from the front and never once accused of ordering anyone to do anything he hadn't done himself. Administration has been oversimplified as leaders vs. managers: managers
strive to do things right, leaders would rather do the right thing. Chip
is a natural leader who inspired people to follow him because they wanted
to not because they had to. Vince Lombardi once said, " Leadership
rests not only upon ability, not only upon capacity – having the
capacity to lead is not enough. The leader must be willing to use it.
His leadership is then based on truth and character. There must be truth
in the purpose and will power in the character.”
Rep.
Ernest Hewett of New London was honored with the Connecticut Police Chief's
Association Legislative Award in grateful recognition of his efforts to
enhance Law Enforcement in the State of Connecticut. The ceremony was held on in Cromwell, Thursday, December 15 at CPCA/DOT Law Enforcement Summit. When accepting this award, Rep. Hewett mentioned the bill that he championed: the DNA upon arrest legislation which requires DNA samples to be collected from convicted felons after a subsequent arrest. Rep. Hewett emphasized that because of that bill, we will be able to put more people behind bars who committed serious crimes and who would have otherwise been free, and we will be able to exonerate those who are wrongfully convicted. Rep. Hewett dedicated the passage of this measure to Jayann Sepich whose daughter Katie Sepich was raped, murdered and her body set on fire in New Mexico. Her killer was arrested through the DNA collection. Ms. Sepich came to Connecticut to testify in favor of Rep. Hewett's bill. Rep. Hewett also thanked the entire police community for their great work in keeping us safe; Rep. Hewett also recognized other lawmakers who were helpful in having this important piece of legislation enacted.
724 attends Democratic Town Committee annual election dinner.
Congressman Courtney press conference
This legislation would amend the Internal Revenue Code to add the case of a missing child to the list of exceptions allowing the release of IRS tax return information upon receiving a court order. As with any missing person case, every bit of information is crucial and this legislation has the ability to assist law enforcement a great deal
Local
724 gets recognized on the national level!
Dan Malloy and Nancy Wyman visited New Londons Muddy Waters on Bank Street to say thank you for all those who helped make the election a success.
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Obama Care
now considers employee healthcare benfits as taxable income. AFSCME was
able to secure an extension on this provision until 2018
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