Boston city councilors unanimously signed off Wednesday on funding for a new, five-year police contract that pairs pay increases for officers with some operational reforms.
Significant changes in the $82 million deal between the city and the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association include a shift in how paid police details are handled and a list of serious offenses for which an officer could be fired without arbitration.
Previously, only Boston Police Department officers were eligible to perform paid detail work at events and construction sites.
The new contract designates some details as high-priority, and opens up unfilled high-priority details to BPD retirees, Boston Housing Authority police officers, university police officers, Boston Municipal Protective Services officers and civilian contract personnel.
City Councilor Kendra Lara said not all of those groups have residency requirements like the police department does.
"Although we are breaking the monopoly on paid details, we are creating second jobs for people who already have incomes, and we're breaking the monopoly not for people in the city of Boston who need it, but for John in Scituate, although I'm sure that John is a great guy," she said. "We need to make sure, either by way of ordinance or by way of holding this administration accountable, which has proven to be incredibly difficult when it comes to police and policing, that the jobs that we are creating are going to the people in the city of Boston."
Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, who like Lara lost a reelection bid this year and will not return to City Hall in January, said he hopes the contract can open a door to future reforms.
The contract lays out a list of offenses — including rape, kidnapping and attempted murder — for which an officer cannot seek arbitration to overturn termination or other discipline.
Arroyo said he’d like to see that list expanded to include domestic violence and “crimes of honesty” like forgery, fraud and perjury.
