Law Enforcement Journal

Spring 2010 LEJ

The Federal Perspective: Congress Passes Health Care Reform and Legislation to Create Jobs

By Dennis McGrann, POAM Lobbyist, Washington, D.C. On March 26, the U.S. Congress left town after passing historic health care legislation, and will return after a two-week recess to a hefty “to do” list. For the past several months, Congress has been intensely focused on health care to the exclusion of almost all ... Read More »

Tom Griffin Retires

By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor Over 40 years of experience in the police and labor profession were sorely missed by POAM and hundreds of its members when Business Agent Tom Griffin retired in April, 2010. Griffin was the complete package, serving as a Dearborn police officer from 1968 to 1998. Tom served his membership as their local ... Read More »

Unfair Labor Practices: Union Activites Protected by POAM Charge

By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor For a number of years, the City of Saginaw has allowed its employees to use its e-mail system to send correspondences that are not directly work related. The City also allowed the unions representing its employees, including the Saginaw Police Officers Association (SPOA) to use the system to send e-mails... Read More »

Decision Re-Affirms PERA as Dominant Law

By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor In September 2008, negotiators for the City of Belleville and POAM on behalf of the Belleville Police Officers Association reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the prior contract which had expired. Details of the tentative agreement were set forth in a one-pag... Read More »

MCOLES Report — Equal Opportunity Recession

By Jim DeVries, MCOLES Board Member State government is gradually contracting and changing in adjustment to steadily decreasing revenue. If the state’s fiscal problems were confined to the state, this would be of limited consequence for local units of government. Unfortunately, the reverse is true. The condition of state ... Read More »

How does governmental immunity apply to the acts of police officers?

By Arthur A. Borella As a police officer, it is a good idea to know when you may be vulnerable to a civil lawsuit based on personal injuries caused by you on the job. For instance, a police officer may be sued if he or she causes an innocent bystander to be injured while the officer is making an arrest. One of the first questions... Read More »

Guns on Campus: Police Perspectives

By Donna Selman, Ph.D. In April 2007, a gunman opened fire on Virginia Tech’s campus, taking the lives of 32 people including five faculty members and twenty-seven students, injuring an additional seventeen innocent people before killing himself. Then, not even a year later a similar instance occurred in 2008, at Northern I... Read More »

Take Home Vehicles Determined to be a Past Practice in Garden City

By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor For approximately 30 years in Garden City, the position of deputy chief, lieutenant, special investigations, and lieutenants supervising all support and professional services included entitlement to a take home vehicle, including responsible personal use of the vehicles. Past collective bargaining agreem... Read More »

A Decade after the Millennium

By Barry Sherman Who would have guessed that this state and country would be in the condition they are in today -- only ten years after the turn of the century? Let’s go to back to Dec. 31st 1999. As the Midnight Shift Lieutenant at Livonia P.D., I had a station full of brass and city officials all standing by waiting for ... Read More »

Public Safety State of the State

By Bill Shuette This winter, Governor Granholm delivered her eighth and final State of the State. But as in the past, only one paragraph was devoted to public safety. Most of her speech was devoted to economics. But just as there is an Index of Economic Indicators, so too, there should also be an Index of Public Safety Indicators... Read More »

Across Wayne Co., Shortened Jail Stays Frustrate Cops, Communities

By Kathleen Gray Some cash-strapped communities across Wayne County are refusing to scrimp on punishing those guilty of misdemeanors, even as they cut services and lay off employees. At least 19 communities are spending thousands of dollars - some hundreds of thousands - to send people who have been sentenced for crimes like dru... Read More »

Discipline Stemming From Ticket Quota Overturned

By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor In July 2008, Ypsilanti Police Chief Matthew Harshberger issued an order mandating that all police officers appear in Court on all traffic citations as part of a pilot program established by the District Court. By September 2008 the number of tickets officers issued decreased enough to where the Chief be... Read More »

Tampering with Compulsory Arbitration

By Frank Guido, General Counsel When a Public Employer and Police/Fire labor union are unable to arrive at a negotiated collective bargaining agreement, their dispute is subject to resolution through the statutory Compulsory Arbitration process. Since its creation in 1969, the Compulsory Arbitration Act, commonly referred to as... Read More »

Equal Opportunity Recession

The Legislative Director's Chair Spring 2010 — Legislation Will Interfere With Local Negotiations

by Kenneth E. Grabowski On February 24, 2010 the POAM Executive Board held a legislative reception in downtown Lansing at Troppo restaurant. Turnout of legislators was impressive. All legislators and representatives of their staffs took time to listen with POAM representatives and communicate issues of mutual co... Read More »

The Treasurer's Ledger Spring 2010 — New Application to POAM Website Will Benefit Members

by William Birdseye Have you logged on to poam.net and heard the most recent improvements to the site? That’s right, audio applications are now taking the nation’s leading police union website into new and powerful territory via something called podcasts. Although I have embraced and directed POAM staff to lead the ... Read More »

Signed and Sealed Spring 2010 - 2

Signed and Sealed Spring 2010

Vice-President's Viewpoint - Spring 2010

It has become evident that the police and correction officers in Michigan now need to not only be on guard against gang members, violent prisoners, drunks, felons and radical militia members, but also for attacks by our own state legislature. My first All Points Bulletin: Any senator or house rep, who wants us to take a 5% pay reduction, an... Read More »

From the President's Desk - Spring 2010

Good day to our members and friends. I’d like to share some headlines with you. Some may be short on details but I am hopeful you will use our communications system (either e-mail or phone) to acquire details as you see necessary. Welcome to our new members from Lapeer County. Both the cor- rections and road patrol u... Read More »

Recently Negotiated Contracts 2 - Fall 2009

Recently Negotiated Contracts 1 - Fall 2009

The Cutting Edge - Bullet Proof Seats

Bullet Proof Seats Save Police Departments Big Money By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor Let’s describe a scene that is all too familiar to law enforcement personnel. It’s the unavoidable, ever present hole in the vehicle seat… and you can bet that it is present in many law enforce... Read More »

Cereal Killers - Cops & Doughnuts

By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor Allen White fondly remembers frequenting the Clare City Bakery as a young man growing up in Clare, Michigan. As a matter of fact so did his father and his fathers’ father. Of course, as the stereotype would have it, he never stopped enjoying the coffee and doughnuts when he became a full-time pol... Read More »

Law Enforcement is About Fairness, Not Numbers

By Senator Glenn Anderson-Westland(D) Throughout my career, I have had the good fortune of working closely with our law enforcement community on a number of issues. The men and women I have met have chosen a career in law enforcement out of a desire to serve and protect the public. This is made clear by the pride officers take ... Read More »

Gutscher Prevails for Retirees

By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor Over the last few years, one of the most frequent topics surrounding incoming calls to the POAM office involve retiree health care. Typically the comments are, “nobody informed me of a change,” or “this isn’t the same prescription rider I had three years ago when I retired.&rdqu... Read More »

No-Cost Lodging for Cops Visiting the Mayo Clinic

By Mike Walsh, Rochester, Minnesota Police Department Rochester has long been known for the Mayo Clinic and the fine medical care provided there. People from all over the world come to Mayo for medical needs, including law enforcement officers and their family members. It is not at all uncommon for Officers from the Rochester P... Read More »

Emotional Backup

by Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor Crisis is something most employees attempt to avoid when they arrive at their workplace. For employees of Southfield-based Incident Management Team (IMT), crisis is expected. IMT is the internationally respected crisis management company that responds to calls to the Police Officers Association of Mich... Read More »

Dearborn Re-Institutes Defined Benefit Pension Plan

By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor After nearly two years of tough negotiations with the previous contract and administration and an ensuing Act 312 petition filed by the City of Dearborn against the Police Officers Association of Michigan and the Police Officers Association of Dearborn, Arbitrator Donald Burkholder rendered an award se... Read More »

A Fresh Look at 12 Hour Shifts

By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor In the late 1950's and early 1960's, an unusual employee-driven process took root in America as fatigued shift workers convinced management that major scheduling changes were needed. By the 1970's and 1980's, many businesses were favoring 12-hour "compressed" work sets of two to four days, over t... Read More »

Mixing Police and Politics

By Barry Sherman First, let me start out by telling you when I feel these two do mix. Several weeks ago I received a call from a newspaper reporter who was writing a story on a local police labor organization who had worked successfully on defeating an incumbent mayor. Her question to me centered on whether or not this typ... Read More »

Honor Guard School

By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor "This honor guard training camp motto reminds students that those who are honored have given all there is to give. The least an honor guard member can do is to give his or her best in tribute to the deceased police officer or firefighter," said Randy Kantner, Goshen Police Department Honor Guard m... Read More »

Time to Review And Renew POAM's Criminal Defense Plan

By Ed Jacques LEJ Editor Five dollars a month! That's all personal security and peace of mind costs. After all, would you let your medical COBRA coverage lapse if you had to leave your current job? At a cost of almost $10,000 a year, most of us would do whatever it took to provide medical coverage for our family. Mortga... Read More »