The highest occupational death rates are found among timber cutters, fishermen, seamen, and aircraft pilots. Unlike police officers and fire fighters, however, these occupations are not broadly dispersed throughout society.

BLS researchers found, not surprisingly, that assaults and violent acts were the fatal factor in 51 percent of the deaths but transportation incidents

The report entitled "Fatalities to Law Enforcement Officers and Firefighters, 1992-97" is published in the Summer 1999 issue of the BLS magazine Compensation and Working Conditions. The publication is also available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cwchome.htm.

Gallegos wasted no time in outlining his next two years. "As we enter into the next millennium, I vow to redouble my efforts and those of the Fraternal Order of Police to ensure basic due process rights for every law enforcement officer in the country."

FOP delegates passed a resolution calling for a nationwide boycott against businesses and individuals that support Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death for the 1981 murder

In other business, the FOP delegates chose Providence, Rhode Island, as the site for their 2003 convention, nudging out Las Vegas. 

Meanwhile, roughly 300 delegates met in Denver representing the 4,000 member organizations of the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO). Participants heard a variety of speakers discuss Supreme Court cases and federal legislation affecting police officers. 

Officials of Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 4 denied that the sickout was orchestrated by the lodge. FOP attorneys claim that the summary docking of pay violates federal and state labor laws and will file unfair labor practice charges against the city. Rhode Island law bars police officers from engaging in work stoppages and strikes.

The job action appears to be the result of the city's refusal to pay officers a $1,000 clothing allowance which officers claim was due July 31.

Police officials had to holdover some officers and recall others from days off and vacation to cover the absent personnel. The sickout reportedly cost more than $2,000 in overtime per shift. Ironically, the local FOP president, Steven McElroy, was required to work consecutive shifts.

New bargaining sessions are expected to begin at the end of this month. 

With the backing of their union the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), officers have filed 23 lawsuits against citizens in the past 2

The lawsuits are filed under Section 47.5 of the California Civil Code that permits peace officers to sue persons for defamation who file false complaints alleging misconduct if the complaints are made with "spite, hatred, or ill will." The American Civil Liberties Union says the law is unconstitutional and has called for it to be changed.

The city repealed mandatory retirement in

William Nolan, President of Lodge 7 of the Fraternal Order of Police, labeled the plan unfair and unwise. However, Bill Kugleman, president of Chicago Fire Fighters Union, Local 2, stated that "63 and out" is the only way to rid the department of "dinosaurs" standing in the way of change.

In 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act

In 1996, Congress amended the ADEA to allow re-establishment of a mandatory retirement age of 55 for public safety officers. To date, however, there has not been widespread reinstatement of hiring age limits or age-based mandatory retirement. 

Cases of interest

HELD: The FLSA was enacted to protect all covered workers from substandard wages and oppressive working hours. The officers argue that the pre-shift briefing is overtime under the FLSA for which they were not properly compensated. The

HELD: In this case neither state law, municipal law, collective bargaining agreement, nor an employment contract afforded Singleton any property interest in his job. Thus, as an at-will employee in Missouri, he could be discharged for cause or without cause. Indeed, he could even be discharged for no reason or for an arbitrary or

HELD: The ADA makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee who is a qualified individual with a disability because of that individual's disability. The qualified individual with a disability is a disabled person who satisfies the requisite skill, experience, education, and other job related requirements for the position. Under current law a driver with insulin dependent diabetes poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others. Driving is an essential function of the job of police officer. Gonzales is not qualified for the position because of his inability to safely drive. Similarly, the city is under no obligation to assign Gonzales to the position of evidence technician. The evidence technician job in the police department is a certified position, meaning the individual must be a commissioned officer. To be a commissioned officer one must be able to use firearms and drive an automobile. Since Gonzales is not qualified to be a commissioned officer, he is likewise not qualified for the position of evidence technician. Neither retesting Gonzales nor reassigning him to the position of evidence technician is a viable alternative. Gonzales may be disabled for the

HELD: The ADA makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability because of that individual's disability. A qualified individual with a disability is one who can perform the essential functions of the position sought. Essential functions are those duties that are fundamental to the job at issue. In holding Kapche unqualified for the position of police officer, the trial court assumed that he would be required to drive a vehicle as an essential function of the job. Prior case law holds that an individual afflicted with diabetes who operates a motor vehicle poses a significant risk to the health and safety of others that cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation. Federal regulations provide, however, the determination that a person poses a direct threat shall be based on an individual assessment of the person's present ability to safely perform the essential functions of the job. The prior case ruling that insulin dependent diabetics automatically pose a direct threat within the meaning of the law was wrongly decided. Such determinations should be made on an individualized

HELD: Federal law prohibits employers from requiring a medical examination unless such examination is shown to be job related and consistent with a business necessity. In the case of police officers, fitness for duty and tuberculosis examinations are job related and consistent with business necessity. In any case where a police department reasonably perceives an officer to be even mildly paranoid, hostile, or oppositional, a fitness for duty examination is job related. Police departments place armed officers in positions where they can do tremendous harm if they act irrationally. Contrary to Watson's contention, the ADA does not require a police department to forego a fitness for duty examination and wait until a perceived threat becomes real or questionable behavior results in injuries. The evidence showed the city had good cause for concern as to whether Watson was fit to be a police officer. As to the tuberculosis examination, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations provide that periodic medical examinations for public safety positions may be conducted if they are narrowly tailored to specific job related concerns. The evidence presented showed that the tuberculosis examination addressed unrefuted health concerns regarding officer safety. The evidence also showed that disclosing one's HIV/AIDS status was necessary to properly diagnose and treat an individual with tuberculosis. Accordingly, no jury could find that the city acted improperly in requiring the test and the disclosure of HIV/AIDS status. Affirmed for city. [Watson v. City of Miami Beach, Florida, 177 F.3d 932 (11th Cir. 1999)]

HELD: The city asserts the trial court erred in determining that the personnel manual afforded the right to continued employment to the two police officers. Rather, it argues that the manual could not be considered law since it was not part of the city charter and not adopted by ordinance. The point raised by the town is indeed novel. The town essentially argues that since the personnel manual was not formally adopted as an ordinance nor was there a change to the city charter, the manual does not have the force of law to bring it within the scope of the MAPA requirement for a contested case hearing. Nothing in the record, however, justifies allowing the town to escape taking consequences for what it wrote and presented to all city employees. The town adopted the personnel manual; now years later it attempts to cast doubt on its legitimacy, which it originally stated was part of the city charter. The court will not allow a city to rescind a right to a contested hearing that it created and promised its employees. Affirmed for officers ordering full hearing. [Rugg v. City of Carrollton, 990 S.W.2d 89 (Mo. App. W.D. 1999)]

HELD: With increasing frequency parties to commercial disagreements, labor disputes, and other controversies resort to arbitration and mediation for dispute resolution. The speed, efficiency, and economy of arbitration appeal to many as an alternative to judicial proceedings. In 1794, the New Jersey legislature first adopted a statute recognizing arbitration as a form of dispute resolution. Over time, parties turned increasingly to common law arbitration as a means of resolving disputes. Under common law, arbitration parties could agree on their own initiative to submit a matter to an arbitrator of their choice. In 1923, the legislature created a modern statutory form of arbitration that established streamline procedures as an alternative to court action. The question presented in this case is whether common law

HELD: Under Pennsylvania law, injuries sustained by an employee while actually engaged in the furtherance of the business or affairs of the employer are compensable, whether the injuries occurred upon the employer's premises or elsewhere. Determining when an employee is acting in the course of employment is a question of law that must be made upon the findings of fact by the administrative judge. McDowell testified that he was running in order to meet certain physical fitness standards of his employer. The employer argues, however, that it was not necessary for McDowell to run in the park as it provided all police officers with a health club membership where they could exercise. The question before the court, however, is whether McDowell was in the furtherance of his employer's business at the time of this injury, not whether he was doing so in the proper place. The transit authority does not require its officers to use the health club when exercising to meet its standards. The fact that the employer offers such exercise facilities only provides additional evidence that McDowell's fitness was in the interest of the employer. As such, he was furthering his employer's interest at the time of the injury and is due worker's compensation. Affirmed for injured police officer. [Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority v. Worker's Compensation Appeal Board (McDowell), 729 A.2d 1278 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1999)]

HELD: The right to become a candidate for public office is a right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. That right is not absolute, however. The government has a legitimate interest in regulating the political activities of its employees. In determining the amount of regulation permissible, the government must arrive at a balance between the interests of the employee and the interests of the government in promoting the efficiency of its employees. In striking this balance the government may place limits on candidacy by public employees if the limits substantially serve government interests that are important enough to outweigh the employee's First Amendment rights. The city has an interest in maintaining the loyalty, efficiency, and non-partisanship of its employees. To further that interest the city may prevent its employees from running for positions that would give an employee power over his supervisors. Davis was terminated for becoming a candidate for the city council of the very city that employed him. This is precisely the type of political activity that prior case law holds that a municipal employer can justifiably prohibit. The city's termination of Davis did not violate the Constitution. Affirmed for city. [Davis v. City of Dallas, 992 S.W.2d 621 (Tex. App. _ Dallas 1999)]

HELD: When asked to apply a statute whose meaning is in dispute, court efforts are directed at determining the legislative intent. The court begins by looking at the plain meaning of the language of the statute, and if the language is clear and unambiguous, the court concludes its inquiry and applies the language to the facts of the case. If the language used in the statute is capable of more than one meaning, the court will determine the legislative intent from the words of the statute in relation to its context, subject matter, scope, history, and the objective which the legislature intended to accomplish. Here, however, the statute in question is clear and unambiguous. The statute speaks of the chief "suspending" for a period exceeding five days. It does not say suspending "in a single order" for a period exceeding five days. Clearly, the statute focuses on the duration of the suspension not the administrative manner in which the chief joins or segments the charges. No other reading of the statute would be reasonable. A Wisconsin police chief has authority and discretion to delineate disciplinary charges and issue suspension orders specifying violations of and penalties for rule violations. When the violations arise from a single transaction or set of events, the total length of the suspension is the standard for determining appeal rights. Reversed for police officers. [Parker v. Jones, 595 N.W.2d 92 (Wis. App. 1999)]