News Posts and Articles

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Boston police union approves new contract agreement 

By Danny McDonald Boston Globe Staff,Updated December 4, 2023

The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association approved a new contract agreement with the city on Monday, clearing the way for the matter to head to the City Council, which will vote up or down on funding it.

The membership of the politically powerful labor group ratified the pact, with a union spokesperson saying it was approved “overwhelmingly” although exact vote counts were not immediately available.

The tentative 5-year agreement between the city’s largest police union and Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration was announced on Friday. Wu’s office has yet to publicly release the contract.

Wu is expected to host a City Hall news conference on the contract Tuesday morning. In a press advisory released Monday evening, Wu’s office said “The new contract includes cost of living adjustments and significant reforms in discipline, paid details, medical leave, union release, officer retention, and educational incentives.”

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Wu says unresolved Boston police union contracts weigh heavy on her conscience 

WGBH, Zoe Mathews, October 10, 2023.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told Boston Public Radio on Tuesday she hopes “with every fiber of [her] being” to have Boston Police union contracts negotiated and resolved by the end of the year or early into 2024.

“That’s been one point in my conscience that has been sitting pretty heavy,” she said. “This has been far too long that our police officers have been without a functioning contract. They deserve it, their families deserve it, and the residents also deserve to know we are moving forward with the parameters that our city needs.”

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Boston City Council approves $3.4 million for BRIC, police intelligence 

BY BUSINESS KHABAROCTOBER 5, 2023

The City Council voted to approve $3.4 million in grant funding for the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, after a prolonged dialogue that decided the necessity for public security outweighs previous harms created by the entity’s gang database.

The physique’s 7-5 vote on Wednesday releases 4 years value of funding to the intelligence arm of the town’s police division, cash that has been earmarked by the state since fiscal 12 months 2020, however had been held up by the City Council.

“At the end of the day, BRIC helps solve crimes, particularly violent crime, homicides,” City Councilor Michael Flaherty mentioned. “BRIC brings justice and some solace, a little bit of peace and a little bit of closure to those that have had a loved one killed in the streets of Boston.”

The funding will go towards enhancing expertise aimed toward preventing crime, gangs and terrorism. It will permit the intelligence middle to rent eight further analysts, 4 of whom will “monitor active events and communicate in real time,” Mayor Michelle Wu, who filed the grants, wrote in a letter to the City Council.

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Mayor Wu announces plan to remove tents, address ongoing crisis at Mass. and Cass 

NBCBoston, Published August 25, 2023.

An ordinance will be introduced Monday aimed at dealing with the recent rise in assaults and arrests in the area

With plans for a substance abuse treatment center on Boston Harbor's Long Island still years from becoming a reality, city leaders announced more immediate efforts to ease the ongoing crisis at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard on Friday.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Police Commissioner Michael Cox, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden and other officials held at press conference at The BASE in Roxbury to discuss the city's response to the substance use, mental health and homelessness crises centered at Mass. and Cass.

Wu said she will be introducing an ordinance Monday to "empower" police to remove tents and tarps and provide housing at a new, temporary 30-bed facility for those in need. Police would only be allowed to take down tents if individuals living there have already been offered shelter, transportation to that shelter, and storage for their belongings, she said.

The mayor stressed that the 30-bed facility will not be a permanent shelter, but more of an "overflow site." She did not say exactly where the facility will be located, only that it will be near Mass. and Cass.

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City, union reps meet to discuss Boston Mayor Wu’s plan for Mass and Cass 

Boston Herald, Dated August 16, 2023.

City representatives held a closed-door meeting with first responder unions to discuss how the mayor plans to address the uptick in violence occurring at Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard this summer, her office said.

Much of the discussion centered on an ordinance the mayor is considering, that would give the Boston Police Department more authority to enforce the city’s anti-encampment policy at Mass and Cass, a person familiar with Wednesday’s meeting told the Herald.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said last week that she was considering the ordinance, stating that tent encampments are contributing to increased violence, by concealing weapons and the occurrence of drug and human trafficking.

City representatives discussed drafting an ordinance within the next couple of weeks, the source said, which aligns with what Wu said at a press conference last week.

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