The proposal will include $20 million to expand police integrity and ethics training. The training will be conducted through the 30 regional community policing institutes. In addition, another $20 million will be earmarked for college scholarships for current police officers. Details of the latter program were not disclosed. The initiative will also include $2 million for improved minority recruitment. Last year, the Office of Community-Oriented Policing awarded $1 million to community organizations to develop targeted police recruitment efforts among racial minorities.

For the first time, $5 million will be available to establish citizen police academies where members of the community can learn about police procedures

In his address the President condemned abusive and corrupt police officers and announced that the Department of Justice's budget will be increased by $1 million to assist the investigation and prosecution of police officers who violate civil rights laws. The President expressed particular concern about recent reports of alleged racial profiling in law enforcement, saying the tactic has "shaken some communities' faith in the police."

In response to the President's comments, Robert T. Scully, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO), agreed that one act of police misconduct is one too many. He called for re-evaluation of police hiring practices and the institution of better training and education programs. Scully told Police Labor Monthly, "For the police to maintain its strong stance against corruption, it is up to municipalities to raise the officers' salaries and hiring standards so that the more qualified find the job appealing." 

In New Mexico, state legislators voted to continue public sector bargaining. The current law is due to expire July 1. Public sector unions had agreed to a sunset provision to win approval of the original law in 1992. The new legislation would

An estimated 150 public employee labor contracts, including police officer and fire fighter pacts, are in force in New Mexico. If the bargaining statute is not renewed, the state would revert to

The news in Missouri was less encouraging for public sector labor groups. By a vote of 73 to 88 the Missouri House of Representatives effectively killed a bill that would have given police officers, fire fighters, and other public workers bargaining rights on salaries and working conditions. Similar legislation has been rejected over the last 20 years but backers thought this year's effort had a chance of success. Governor Mel Carnahan supported the proposal along with a variety of labor organizations. The Missouri Municipal League and most Republican members of the legislature opposed the measure. 

The Virginia General Assembly has modified

In Texas, a general public safety bargaining bill has not been introduced in this session of the legislature. However, an alteration of the current law that generally prohibits public sector bargaining without voter approval has been introduced. This bill, if passed, would allow permissive bargaining. Prospects of passage are unknown at this time. Similarly, a bill has been proposed allowing meet-and-confer status for Dallas police officers. Police officers in Houston and Austin already enjoy meet-and-confer status while officers in San Antonio and about two dozen other cities work under voter-authorized collective bargaining contracts. 

Earlier this month, a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit ruled that Newark, New Jersey, police officials must permit officers to wear beards for religious reasons because the department already makes exceptions for officers who cannot shave for medical reasons. Meanwhile, a Los Angeles officer has sued his department claiming discrimination in promotion because of his beard.

In Fraternal Order of Police, Newark Lodge 12 v. City of Newark, two Sunni Muslim police officers claimed that the city threatened to discipline them for violating the department's 25-year old "no beard rule." The officers claim that the Quran, the

The appeals court found that the city acted inconsistently in accommodating a medical-based disability but refusing to accommodate a religious claim. The court noted that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires an employer to make a "reasonable accommodation" for individuals with disabilities and that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 imposes an identical obligation to accommodate religious practices. 

The court also rejected the department's claim that safety concerns warranted standardization of appearance of officers. The court noted that uniformed officers, with or without beards, would be clearly identified as police officers. Likewise, plainclothes officers are not supposed to stand out

Meanwhile, Kevin Williams, a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) lieutenant, has sued claiming that the department refused to promote him because he wears a beard. LAPD also enforces a no beard policy but Williams requested an exemption because he suffers from pseudo folliculitis barbae (PFB). PFB is a skin condition among some African-

A third beard suit may not bode well for Williams' claim. The Supreme Court last month refused to overturn a lower court ruling that PFB does not require accommodation under the ADA. This matter, Seaborn v. Florida Department of Corrections, No. 98-998, also involved promotion of an individual suffering from PFB. 

On March 9, federal agents searched the homes of Frank Ginesi, former NJPBA president, and William Saksinsky, a former vice president of the union, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said. Agents of the FBI and Postal Inspectors reportedly seized various financial documents. 

The investigation began in 1997 when current NJPBA president Michael Madonna reported that

Authorities are reportedly investigating charges that someone took NJPBA funds out of union accounts and placed them in bank accounts earmarked for the union but which funds the union never received. The funds included proceeds from the sale of PBA insignias and payments for several Caribbean cruises organized by the union, sources said. To date, no charges have been filed.

The NJPBA is the state's largest police union with more than 30,000 members. Ginesi headed the group for 20 years, until 1997. 

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, Police Department recently launched an incentive program to encourage safe driving. Besides driver training and award pins, cash bonuses will be available for accident-free driving. Yearly lotteries of $1,000 and $500 will be held for

Traffic records show that Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are three times more likely to be involved in wrecks than civilian drivers. In 1997-98, police cruisers were involved in 17 accidents per million miles driven compared to five accidents per million miles for the general public. The department experienced 284 vehicle accidents in 1998, about 44 percent being characterized as

Geoffrey Alpert, a University of South Carolina professor who has studied police vehicle operations, characterized the problem as a "pay-attention issue" not a "training issue." He said most police vehicle accidents are preventable and often stem from the officer simply not being alert to the surroundings. 

"That's a very troubling situation if it is true," said Vice Mayor Herbert Collins. "I told the city manager to look into that… We're going to get to the bottom of this."

Union officials told the Roanoke Times that

Last spring, the union lobbied for a 10 percent pay hike but council granted only 2.47 percent.

Even though the plan meant more money for some members of the PBA, the union had filed an improper practice petition against the city, arguing that any pay changes had to be negotiated through the collective bargaining process.

The city had argued that it had the authority to grant the pay differentials as a form of special assignment pay. The Board of Collective Bargaining

The pay differential was originally established to reward exemplary patrol officers in each precinct. Precinct commanders were given authority to choose who would receive the money.

A spokesperson for Mayor Rudy Giuliani told the New York Times, "It's really a shame that the PBA is stopping police officers and their families from receiving hard-earned incentive pay, which is in essence what this is."

PBA acting president James Savage responded that the union would "gladly negotiate with the city to make sure that such pay is distributed in a fair and equitable manner."

Benningfield v. Nuchia, No. 98-1266, concerns alleged retaliatory discipline against some current and former employees of the identification division of the Houston Police Department. Appeals court ruled that the employees' speech, which was protected by the First Amendment, was not connected to any adverse employment actions.

Supreme Court update

Also rejected was Rodriguez v. City of Chicago, Illinois, No. 98-1005, involving a police officer's religious freedom claim. The inaction leaves in place a lower court ruling that the city sufficiently accommodated a Catholic police officer who objected to being assigned to provide security at an abortion clinic. The transfer policy under the labor agreement was sufficient to protect the officer's religious objections to the assignment, the lower court ruled.

Recently filed cases seeking Supreme Court review include Huffman v. Los Angeles County, California, No. 98-1159, wherein a lower court absolved the county of liability for a shooting death by an intoxicated off-duty deputy sheriff. The court refused to impose liability despite the department's mandate that deputies be armed at all times, even when off-duty. Plaintiffs are seeking high court review of the ruling.

In Fournier v. Reardon, No. 98-1264, lower courts refused relief to a corrections officer who claimed he was placed under "house arrest" at the training academy. He asserts that he was handcuffed for failing to follow academy protocol by entering an instructor's office without first requesting permission. Subsequently, he was injured as he attempted to sit in a chair while still handcuffed. Lower federal courts ruled that the injury did not rise to the level of a constitutional claim and

Cases of interest

HELD: The ADA requires a plaintiff to demonstrate that he has a "disability" as defined by the law, that he is qualified to perform the essential

HELD: The law is well established that states and the federal government may legitimately regulate certain political activities of civil servants. The Supreme Court has ruled that a law that forbids activities such as organizing a political party, actively participating in fund-raising activities for partisan candidates, becoming a candidate for office, campaigning for office, actively managing the campaign of a partisan candidate, circulating a nominating position, soliciting votes for candidates, or serving as a delegate to a political party would be constitutional. The rights to associate and participate in politics are not absolute. The former officers in this case, however, argue they were merely executive board members of the association and that the association, and not they individually, endorsed and contributed to the candidate for city council. Thus, they claim this activity does not fall under the statutory prohibition. Louisiana law, however,

HELD: Under Georgia law, whether a police officer can be held liable for negligent conduct while working for a private entity depends on whether the officer was acting within the scope of his official authority at the time of the conduct. In this case, the officer was directing traffic on a public street while being paid by a private employer. Thus, the question becomes whether he was performing a public or private function. Prior case law holds that directing traffic upon a public thoroughfare is a police function. It is always a police function regardless of who is assisted in the process. Georgia statute limits direction of traffic to police officers, fire fighters, and school crossing guards. As such, the activity of directing traffic is distinct from other activities engaged in by police officers, such as

HELD: For a negligence action to be pursued, there must be evidence of a breach of duty to the plaintiff. Duty is defined as an obligation to which the law will give recognition and effect, to conform to a particular standard of conduct towards another. The imposition of a duty depends on a case-by-case analysis. Louisiana law prohibits minors from purchasing or possessing alcohol. Prior case law holds that these statutes do not extend to impose a duty upon one minor not to give alcohol to another. Thus, Whitten had no statutory duty not to share with Brown the alcohol he obtained. Any duty that Whitten might have had towards the deputy also would be limited by the professional rescuer's rule. This rule provides that professional rescuers, such as fire fighters or police officers, injured in the performance of their professional duties assume the risk of such injuries and are not entitled to damages, with certain limited exceptions. A professional rescuer may recover for injuries caused by a risk independent of the emergency that the rescuer assumed the duty to render. Second, where the risk involved arises from the very emergency the rescuer was hired to remedy, the rescuer may only recover for injuries when the risk is so extraordinary that it cannot be said the parties intended the rescuer to assume it, or the conduct of the defendant is so blameworthy that recovery should be imposed for

HELD: Erickson serves as chief under the Massachusetts "weak chief" statute. This statute provides that selectmen may make suitable regulations governing the police department and its officers. Also by law, the chief of police is to be in the immediate control of the property used by the department and by the officers. In a prior case, a state court recognized that the general control of the police department rests with the selectmen. In that case the court upheld the authority of the selectmen to set the scheduling and assignments of police officers through collective bargaining, provided such regulations maintained some minimal level of generality to avoid conflict with the statutory

HELD: Bowling asserts that the collective

HELD: Oregon law provides that compensation for a mental disorder is not available unless the worker establishes that there is a diagnosis of a mental or emotional disorder which is generally recognized in the medical or psychological community. No statute or administrative rule adopts the DSM-IV criteria as the specifications for PTSD diagnosis. None of the witnesses testified that those criteria are required for such a diagnosis. Indeed, the DSM-IV itself appears to warn against just such use of its diagnostic criteria. The text cautions that

HELD: Under state civil service law the initial disciplinary action against a police officer comes from within the department. The officer, at his discretion, may appeal the disciplinary action to either the civil service commission or to the third party hearing examiner. A hearing examiner's decision is final and binding on all parties. By electing a hearing examiner, the officer waived all rights to appeal except when the officer claims the hearing examiner was without jurisdiction, the hearing examiner exceeded his jurisdiction, or the order was procured by fraud, collusion, or other unlawful means. Lindsey seeks to fit his appeal within the assertion that the hearing examiner exceeded his jurisdiction by interpreting the word "impose." Hearing examiners conducting a hearing have the same duties and powers as a civil service commission. This authority includes applying, interpreting, and enforcing the rules adopted by the commission and the procedural rules the legislature has enacted to govern suspensions. In the case of rules that it has adopted, the commission and the examiner have authority to interpret them. Any other conclusion would stymie and completely hobble civil service commissions and independent hearing examiners. In short, the hearing examiner had the authority to apply the state statute to the case before

HELD: Washington statute permits cities to establish a civil service commission to review police disciplinary matters. If an employee challenges his suspension, the commission conducts a public hearing to determine whether the discipline was impermissibly imposed for religious or political reasons or was properly made in good faith and for