Operational Reforms in Boston’s New Police Union Contract

Most City of Boston employees are in unions, which represent employees and negotiate contracts on their behalf.

The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association (BPPA) union represents the majority of Boston Police officers. BPPA’s previous contract with the City of Boston expired on June 30, 2020.

Since taking office, Mayor Michelle Wu has prioritized achieving reforms within the Boston Police Department (BPD) to set the highest standards for community policing and ensure resources for the health and well-being of our officers and their families.

The ratification vote took place on Sunday, December 3, and Monday, December 4, 2023.

While past contracts with the BPPA primarily addressed compensation, this is the first contract that includes any kind of operational reforms.

To ensure officers are paid fairly, included in this contract are base wage increases of 2%, 1.5%, 2%, 1%, and 2.5% over each of the five years from 2020 to 2025, respectively.

For the first time, this contract designates a list of offenses that will not be eligible for arbitration as a pathway to overturn discipline or termination issued by the department.

To ensure that any officer who commits grave criminal acts is removed from the police force, an officer will face discipline without arbitration if they are indicted for, or if a sustained Internal Affairs finding is issued and upheld for, rape, hate crimes, murder, armed robbery, drug trafficking, and kidnapping, among others.

We are improving Boston's paid detail system by designating high-priority details that are critical for traffic flow and roadway safety, opening up details to other personnel so that needed shifts are filled, and modernizing the assignment system.

Expanding Personnel to Fill All Details

Boston Police officers previously were the only eligible personnel to perform paid details for events or construction sites that involve traffic disruption on City roadways, but 40% of details go unfilled and priority detail locations are then covered by mandated overtime at significant cost to the department and the City.

Now, if details go unfilled by BPD officers, open details can be offered to BPD retirees, Boston Housing Authority police officers, university police officers, Boston Municipal Protective Services officers and sergeants, and civilian contract personnel. Opening up the opportunity to more personnel ensures better coverage and creates economic opportunities for Boston residents to earn income through detail work.

New Highest-Priority Detail Category

To help streamline assignments and ensure the safety of road users, the City will now categorize details by priority. The highest priority detail assignments—major events, utility or construction at major intersections or in high-traffic areas, and emergencies—will be filled first and compensated at a higher rate.

Eliminating Double-Booking of Details

This contract ends the practice of allowing officers who finish a detail early to start another detail, preventing officers from collecting double pay for the same period of time.

Streamlining Administration of Detail Assignment

Detail assignments for construction sites were previously managed using a paper system, with assignments delegated by officers. To modernize the system and reduce the number of officers working in an administrative capacity, the City can now use a digital platform to manage paid details. The work of assigning details will be civilianized so that officers can be reassigned to police work.

When negotiations started, 10% of BPPA members were on medical leave. To simplify and streamline the process, an Independent Medical Examiner will settle disagreements between an officer’s doctor and BPD’s doctor regarding an officer’s ability to return to work.

The City of Boston believes in strong unions representing its employees, but the current union release practices frequently require too many officers to step away from core police work. The new contract will reduce the number of officers attending to union business while on duty and being paid by the City.

To ensure officers who use the educational incentive plan pursue high quality degrees relevant to the City’s needs, this contract increases qualifying schools in the Plan to include the UMass System, Northeastern University, and Boston University, as well as increases qualifying degrees to include in Sociology, Psychology, and Public Administration.

To incentivize the retention of officers who have benefited from the City’s investment and training, effective July 2023, this contract establishes a new Transitional Career Awards Program for officers with 5, 10, 15, and 25 years of experience.

Mayor Wu will file an appropriation order with the Boston City Council to allocate the funding for the contract.