COMMENTARY
Breck Porter, Editor
GALVESTON - The president of the Galveston Municipal Police Association, the bargaining agent for city police, recently told city officials that local officers were in agreement with a voluntary three percent pay cut, a move they hoped would avoid police layoffs. However, the president, Jimmy De Los Santos apparently forgot to do one very important thing, get a vote from his members. Now we learn that in a vote of the members after-the-fact, the majority do not agree on the cut.
Because of the work agreement between the police union and the city, the city cannot cut the officer's pay unless they agree to it. The union leadership can't agree to it with the city without a vote of it's members. So, all the talk about the police agreeing to the pay cut is "por nada."
The Galveston County Daily News is reporting in today's edition that De Los Santos said there was never a vote taken in the matter, there was just a general consensus on the matter.
What? How in the world can the leader of an organized union sit down at the table with city official's and negotiate, make deals, and speak for his members, when the members have not even officially made their position known?
Here's the real deal that hasn't been reported in the 'main stream press.' Most Galveston police officer's are aware, and are convinced, that even after a 3 percent voluntary pay cut, some of them will lose their jobs anyway. The rule of thumb is, "last hired, first fired," meaning that probably the last class of rookies, maybe more, will get the ax. The rumble among the new troops is that the union, which is controlled by senior officers, even Lieutenants, don't really care if they get axed because it will mean more overtime hours for those senior officers left to work. The overtime hours boost their pension checks when they retire and most of union leadership are already eligible to retire, or near to it.
We know how important overtime and extra pay is to the low paid Galveston cops because they are in a fuss now with new Police Chief Charles Wiley whose new department policy prevents them from working, off-duty, in bars, honky tonks, and other shady joints, where police are most likely to be involved in confrontations and where lawsuits are spawned. The policy is nothing new in law enforcement, only in the Republic of Galveston. Wiley, unlike past police chiefs, has been north of the causeway and he knows that nothing good comes from cops working in dives and slop joints. He also knows that most cities the size of Galveston and larger, do not allow their officers to work these holes.
The police union, on the other hand, claims the chief is severely cutting into their ability to make a livng. Baloney! There are plenty of extra jobs available in decent, respectable businesses if the officers want them. They are not restricted from working on the island. These officers are certified Texas peace officers and can work off-duty police jobs anywhere in Texas. In fact, some of them already do.
And why haven't we heard from the union in the matter of Wilfred Milburn who has filed a lawsuit against four Galveston narcotics officers who he claims roughed up his 12-year old daughter during a vice arrest?
The police department and the officers involved have been called everything but rabid dog's in the media. E-mails have poured into The Police News denegrating these officers and the entire department over a lawsuit that anyone who knows what's going on, is aware is a trumped-up lawsuit by a lawyer posturing for a money settlement from the city.
And where has the union been in this controversy. Why haven't they defended their member officers? Why haven't they spoken out in the media and presented the officer's side of the story, like the Houston Police Officer's Union in the Marvin Driver case? Driver, father of NFL player Donald Driver, claimed he was beaten during a traffic stop. The investigation that followed determined he was lying and the president of the Houston Police Officer's Union was in the media defending his officers. The union will soon file a lawsuit against Driver for defaming the officers.
Where is that kind of union representation in Galveston? How do the officers feel when their own union hangs them out to dry while they are being slaughtered by a relentless media that thrives on bad-cop stories?
In the Milburn case, which allegedly happened almost three years ago, (read the lawsuit) there has never been a formal complaint filed with the police department. Why? The reason is, we suspect, is that the lawyer, Anthony Griffin, advised Miburn not to. We beleive his stradegy was to wait until just before the three year statute of limitations expires, then file a lawsuit demanding money claiming civil rights violations, pain and suffering and whatever else comes from the law library.
This case, when it happened, was not a case of consequence. To the officers it was another routine night on the street. Another night of dealing with drug dealers, prostitutes, pimps, thieves and the like. They did what they were suppose to do, by the book, and with the advice and knowledge of their commanders and the District Attorney. Nothing to it.
Then, three year later, along comes lawyer Griffin and slaps them with a lawsuit. Lawyers know that if they wait long enough, there is a good chance the officers involved may not even be working at that department anymore. Some of them may have moved away, or died, or whatever. The lawyer knows that at the time, the officers didn't gather a lot of physical evidence because of the insignificance of the event. Their police report was probaby brief and unrevealing.
The lawsuit claims the girl was seriously injured, both physically and mentally, by the officers. Was she ever admitted for treatment?
The lawsuit claims her civil rights were violated and points out that she is an African-American female.
A point not reported in the media is that one of the officers involved was also African-American as was the police chief at the time. None of the three officers were reprimanded or suspended.
When all is said and done, we believe this whole incident is nothing but media play and an effort to grab money from a city that doesn't have money to spare, and an assault on four, honest, decent, hardworking cops that have families and children of their own.
Final point. Where is the police union in all of this? Why is the officer's side of this story not being told? It appears to us that in both matters, the pay cut issue and the Milburn lawsuit, the Galveston police union is tragically impotent and is not serving the best interest of it's member officers.
That's the way we see it. How about you?
Breck Porter
editor@thepolicenewsnet
