Pontiac Police Officer Keeps His Job With Help From MAP

Pontiac Police Officer Ken Ayres pursued a suspect who fled police after being stopped for investigation of an Armed Robbery/Carjacking and ended up needing the help of MAP to retain his job.

MAP Attorney Catherine Farrell and Labor Relations Specialist Joel Felt presented arguments to Arbitrator Barry Brown who agreed that the Pontiac Police Department had made redundant charges against Officer Ayres, which were not as egregious as framed by them. Arbitrator Brown also found from the evidence that there was a predetermined outcome, which the Chief had sought, which a fair investigation had not produced.

Further, Officer Ayres had sought advice from a Sergeant who, in turn, did not make a decision other than to advise Officer Ayres to just write the report. When he did so, there were inaccuracies, but none that could be categorized as a false charge.

Based upon a pattern of discipline by the department in similar circumstances, Officer Ayres suffered disparate treatment. Arbitrator Brown corrected that when he reinstated Officer Ayres to duty with full seniority.

MAP continues to examine each and every case, and puts the best legal defense together possible to protect officers and their rights.

The City has tried to ignore the award of the arbitrator. MAP has commenced enforcement action in Oakland County Circuit Court; the case is before Circuit Court Judge Stephend Andrews. No decision has been made a the time News and Views went to print.

News 'n Views
Summer/Fall 2007

MAP Members:
Be Aware of MCOLES and Ethics!

MAP members need to be aware that the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) is attempting to force a new standard on police officer discipline in Michigan. That may sound fine on the surface, but MCOLES if successful, would have the authority to over rule an arbitrator's back to work order.

MCOLES is seeking the authority to revoke an officer's license for "violations of the public trust". What is a violation of the public trust? No one, including MCOLES has been able to define what this term means.

Currently MCOLES can revoke an officer's license for convictions of a felony. It has the ability to suspend for up to one-year an officer's license for a conviction of certain misdemeanors. The change sought by MCOLES would certainly go well beyond the current standards.

MAP is aware of this and is standing firmly against it. The member organizations of MAP are also opposed to this change. Joining us, in an unprecedented alliance against this foolish proposal, is the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police (MACP) and the Michigan Municipal League (MML). Both of these organizations are typically management oriented, but both see this attempt as dangerous to the law enforcement community.

News 'n Views
Fall/Winter 2006

Waterford Township Police Officers Receive Arbitrator's Decision

On May 16, 2006, Arbitrator Stanley Dobry handed down his award and came to a decision regarding the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the Waterford Township Police Officers.

They had been without a contract since June of 2004, but the collective bargaining process led to agreements on several issues. The remaining issues to be decided by the Arbitrator were Wages, Sick Leave to include Short & Long Term Disability.

The Arbitrator is required by law to identify each issue as either "economic" or "noneconomic". The classification is critical in that the Arbitrator may adopt either party's offer or its own position on a noneconomic issue. However, on an economic issue, the panel shall adopt the last offer of settlement which, in the opinion of the arbitrator, more nearly complies with the factors set forth by statute. In other words, either one side or the other will win its case.

Though sometimes confusing and contradictory testimony by the Township, the Arbitrator was able to determine, contrary to the Township's argument, that Sick Leave is, in fact, an economic issue and ultimately sided with MAP, in effect leaving the policy as is and currently in place. The adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" as stated by the colorful president of the United Mine Workers of America John L. Lewis was used by the Arbitrator in his written decision.

The proverbial baby was split on wages, as each year was treated separately, and the fourth year was split into two separate periods. Ultimately, the officers received a 9.5% increase in wages over the four-year contract with some retroactivity being granted. Michigan's economic downturn, specifically in manufacturing, and the high unemployment rate were reasons cited by the Arbitrator.

It took a long time to get this Collective Bargaining Agreement in place, however Fred Timpner and the Michigan Association of Police never let up, standing by the officers MAP represents every step along the way.

News 'n Views
Fall/Winter 2006

Arbitrator Reinstates Pontiac Officer

While the issue before the Arbitrator - just cause for termination - is brief, the record presented to him to support or refute the claim was voluminous and required an inordinate amount of time to review and study. MAP is grateful that Arbitrator David S. Tanzman did just that.

In the end, Officer Martice Berry was reinstated to duty with retroactive pay and full benefits. The hard work by MAP's Executive Director Fred Timpner and Business Agent Joel Felt was crucial to that decision.

The Arbitrator concluded that the basic rights of Officer Berry were fundamentally disregarded; that he was denied his contractual rights to be fully informed of his alleged infractions in advance of the investigative procedure; and was denied his employee rights to which he was entitled to by contract. Many questions unanswered by the City of Pontiac about its procedures and data throughout the record left enough of a question about a possible bias on its part toward Officer Berry.

In addition to being reinstated with full benefits, Mr. Tanzman ordered that Officer Berry be granted the following:

This is yet another example of how MAP continues to stand by its members and fight for their rights.

News 'n Views
Fall/Winter 2006

MAP Wins Unfair Labor Practice Case

After nearly three years of attempts to bargain in good faith, MAP was forced to file an Unfair Labor Practice complaint with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission. It took less than four months after the two hearings for MERC to decide in favor of the Brownstown Police Officers represented by MAP. After continual interference by Township officials and the Teamsters, Administrative Law Judge Julia Stern ordered Brownstown Township, its officers and agents to:

It’s truly unfortunate that MAP had to go to these lengths in order to bargain in good faith for the members of the Police Officers’ Association. It is extremely unnerving that another
labor organization would attempt to interfere with the process set by law. MAP’s staff stayed the course, and once again prevailed.

News 'n Views
Spring 2006

Mission Accomplished! M.A.P. “SafeStart Program” Claims Major Victory!

For more than a decade, MAP’s SafeStart Program has provided vital protection to eligible rookie police officers in Michigan. More than 1,600 state-of-the-art bullet resistant vests have been received, free of any cost to either the officers or their agencies, by young law enforcement professionals in virtually every area of the state.

The program’s mission, to provide the essential protection of body armor to as many police officers as possible, has been accomplished. A “higher authority” has determined that the huge need to which MAP dedicated itself years ago on a state wide scale will be addressed on the national level.

On November 13, President Clinton signed into law the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2000. This legislation, which was passed by a large majority of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. It clarifies the procedures and conditions for the award of matching grants for the purchase of armor vests.

Simply stated, the act will provide, in the coming years, hundreds of millions of dollars in grant funding that will enable units of local government with fewer than 100,000 residents to purchase body armor for their law enforcement agencies. As a result, SafeStart will be phased out, MAP Executive Director Fred Timpner announced.

“The provisions of this new law will accomplish on a nationwide scale exactly what we have been striving to do in our state,” Timpner explained. “Police officers will get the kind of protection they require and deserve. Lives will be saved, in Michigan as well as throughout the rest of the nation.” “MAP founded SafeStart with the well-being of police officers foremost in our minds. We understood that many local law enforcement agencies, especially smaller departments, cannot afford to provide body armor for their officers. Now, thanks to the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2000, thousands of officers are going to get bullet resistant vests because the agencies they work for will receive grant funding.”

Just how important are armor vests? This question also could be posed as “Just how great is the need that MAP and SafeStart has led the way in addressing?” Either way, the answer is articulated in the list of findings by Congress that led to creation and passage of the legislation. These include:

1. The number of law enforcement officers who are killed in the line of duty would significantly decrease if every law enforcement officer in the United States had the protection of an armor vest.

2. According to studies, between 1985 and 1994, 709 law enforcement officers in the United States were killed in the line of duty.

3. The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that the risk of fatality to law enforcement officers while not wearing an armor vest is 14 times higher than for officers wearing an armor vest.

4. According to studies, between 1985 and 1994, bullet resistant materials helped save the lives of more than 2,000 law enforcement officers in the United States.

News 'n Views
Winter/2000/2001