National Police Week was held in Washington, DC on May 13-16, 2009. We travelled via Amtrak and stayed at the Marriott-Metro Center. Members attended the candlelight vigil at the memorial along with approx. 25,000 police officers, families of slain officers and spectators. This is an increadiblely moving event and I would continue to encourage everyone to attend. Watch the website in early 2010 for details for next years event.

NEPBA27.ORG is OnLine !!

We are online with our own domain name and server space. What does this mean ? It means that we have a shorter web address and anyone that would like a yourname@nepba27.org email address for webmail can have one. (just ask)

Remember...the Union Laptop is in dispatch and available for you to use to check your personal email and to check the Union website for updates.

CONTRACT NEWS

Members will receive a minimum of 5% in cost of living adjustments over the life of the contract with a possibility of 2% more in July 2010 depending on the CPI figures.

Cost sharing for health insurance costs did rise from 8% to 12% for most members. Master Patrol Officers went from 8% to 15% based on base salary.

While it is not what we were hoping for, given the economy I'm please to have a 3 year deal with COLA's. Some Locals are agreeing to 1 year contracts that are either level finded or in some cases even contain wage cuts.

Thanks go out to Jeff, Lisa and Mark for the literally hundreds of hours of their own time for this negotiation cycle.

GRIEVANCE ISSUES

We dealt with several grievance issues in 2008 including a successful resolution to a matter related to scheduling shift coverage on Holidays.

December of 2008 found us filing our current grievance related to seniority and shift schedules. We have received the Chief's response and the next step is an appeal to the Town Manager.

Members are welcome to speak to the EBoard members for more details.

"NEPBA Local27 " MERCHANDISE IS HERE !!!

T-Shirts, Polo Shirts, Hats, Fleece Items and Several Styles of Jackets are now available.

If you believe you have a reason to file a grievance...YOU MUST PUT IT IN WRITING TO THE EXECUTIVE BOARD - and it MUST be received within 15 day of the event or the discovery of the event. You may have a GREAT case but if it is not filed within the guidelines of the contract it won't matter.

News from National Police Week 2008

It was my distinct honor to represent Local 27 at the 20th annual candlelight vigil for National Police Week in Washington, DC this year. If you have never made the trip for Police Week I can't encourage you enough.

Literally 20 - 30 thousand members of the Law Enforcement community converge on our Nation's Capitol for the week long event. From the annual "Blue Mass" to the candlelight vigil, to the wreath laying and lots of social events too, it is group after group of men and women in blue.

During the day the National Monuments and museums are full of people proudly wearing their badges around their necks masked by the "Thin Blue Line" mourning band. Local Officers, Troopers, County Sheriffs, Federal Agents and their families are easy to recognize all over the city.

Since May 13th is my son's birthday I paid to have him join me for the trip. We were treated to VIP tours of the National Archive, where our Declaration of Independence, Constitution and the Bill of Rights are held, and of the US Capitol building itself. We also had a personal meeting with US Senator John Sununu. While at the Capitol we also had the opportunity to meet Sen. Ted Kennedy, Sen. Olympia Snow, the British Ambassador to the United States and Democratic Presidential Nominee Barak Obama.

The Candlelight Vigil itself was very moving. Several surviving family members with incredible talent sang, 6 Pipe and Drum units performed and speeches by the Director of the National Police Memorial, Director of the FBI and the US Attorney General were given. At dusk all 25+ thousand family members and Officers in dress uniforms lit candles and the names being added to the memorial were read as a thin blue laser line widened to cover everyone in the audience as one family. We were humbled to sit with two families whose sons had been killed in the line of duty in 2007.

Link to 2007 Outreach House Holiday Party Photos

Link to 2008 Outreach House Holiday Party Photos