Davis vows to fire police after three strikes
Would mark shift in policy
Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis vowed yesterday to change the policy of the Boston Police Department by establishing a new "three strikes" rule allowing him to terminate officers after their third serious rules violation leading to a suspension.
The commissioner made his pledge after federal prosecutors disclosed that Boston police Officer Jose Ortiz, who was charged yesterday with attempted extortion and cocaine conspiracy, had been suspended from the department at least six times over the past 13 years.
Ortiz's alleged violations include disrespecting a super visor; performing an unauthorized detail and then lying about it; saying he worked hours he did not to earn extra money; and using another officer's identification number to issue a citation to a neighbor.
"As long as we're recruiting from the human race, we're going to have problems in our business," Davis said at a press conference yesterday in front of the Moakley federal courthouse in South Boston. "But during the course of that, if we're effectively rooting out this problem, then we're doing every thing we can for the citizens of Boston. What we need to do is aggressively pursue it when we see it and make sure that it ends quickly, and that's what we've done in this case."
The new policy would mark a dramatic shift in the Boston Police Department, which some critics have accused of being lax on discipline. Currently, there is no policy that allows the department to fire officers after a certain number of suspensions.
But a union official and labor lawyer who represents officers questioned whether Davis has the power to unilaterally fire officers, who have rights to appeal such decisions to entities such as the state Civil Service Commission. He also said any such policy should be discussed with the unions.
"I would hope that he would sit us down and collectively talk to us about it before he implemented that," said Jack Parlon, president of the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society. "Suspensions come for various degrees of violations and severity." Parlon called Davis's proposal "a bit draconian."
Timothy Burke, a prominent Boston labor lawyer who has represented a number of police officers in disciplinary matters, said that the state's civil service system, with the protections it provides for public employees, would make it difficult for Davis to carry out his plans. Burke said the Civil Service Commission can overturn any decision made by department management.
Simply firing officers for three suspensions is unfair, Burke said.
"It paints law enforce ment with a very broad brush," Burke said of the proposal. "You can't take a wooden application such as this 'three strikes and you're out' rule and apply it across the board. It prejudges every type of case."
In an interview yesterday, Davis did not elaborate on how he intends to make his plan work, though he acknowledged that each disciplinary case has to be treated on its own merits. He said he believes that all rules violations that lead to suspensions are serious by definition.
"Someone being late for roll call doesn't get suspended," Davis said. "If you're dealing with someone who's been suspended multiple times, the whole concept of progressive discipline and rehabilitation has failed, and, at that point, it's important to consider serious sanction, the most serious sanction being separation from the service."
The commissioner acknowledged there will be difficulties in applying such a sweeping overhaul, but vowed to try.
"It requires proper notification and proper policy statements, and it can be done," he said.
Spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said the policy would not be retroactive, meaning that all officers, including those with long histories of suspensions, would start with a clean slate.
Davis said it is important to respond aggressively to corruption and pointed out that the department's anticorruption unit initiated the case against Ortiz and brought it to the attention of federal prosecutors and the FBI. Three Boston officers who were arrested on cocaine trafficking charges last July in an unrelated case were first identified by federal investigators who brought Boston police detectives into the probe later.
The commissioner also said he is pleased that Ortiz's managers brought concerns about his behavior to the attention of the anti corruption unit. Davis declined to elaborate, saying the investigation is ongoing.
The department is investigating the circumstances of how Ortiz allegedly engaged in criminal conduct while working paid details without more colleagues on the force noticing and reporting it.
"We'll be following up with the officers who were responsible for supervising these details," he said.
Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com. 