Police union has a grievance, will seek damages from city
By George P. Hassett

  The Somerville Police Patrolmen‚Äôs Union will seek monetary damages against the city because Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone refuses to administer the civil service exam used to promote patrolmen to sergeants, said Jack Leutcher, president of the union. 
  ‚ÄúWe‚Äôre going after monetary damages for the men and women who have had their rights, clearly stated in our contract with the city, denied to them because Joe Curtatone wants to play politics with people‚Äôs lives,‚Äù Leutcher said. ‚ÄúI expect we‚Äôll win.‚Äù

  The Patrolmen‚Äôs Union contract with the city states: ‚ÄúThe City agrees to take reasonable, good faith steps to request that a new civil service list for the position of sergeant be established every two years.‚Äù A sergeants exam was given two years ago. Seven officers who scored high enough to be considered for the job have yet to be promoted. A new test has yet to be scheduled for this year.
  Leutcher said the damages sought by the union are related to reading materials and seminars patrolmen paid for in order to prepare for the sergeant‚Äôs exam. The books cost approximately $1,000 total and seminars are $500 a session, with some patrolmen attending up to three sessions, he said.
  ‚ÄúThese men and women spend a lot of time studying for these tests. They spend a lot of time away from their families and away from earning extra income through details because they are so busy studying. If they don‚Äôt have this test, I don‚Äôt see how Joe can ever mend fences with the police,‚Äù he said.
  The city‚Äôs Chief Labor Council Robert Collins said officers are not required to buy the materials or attend seminars.
“It was entirely up to these officers to spend that money,” Collins said.
The exam date must be set by August 18, but Leutcher said he believes it will not be given this year because of a contact dispute between his union and the city. Curtatone and Acting Chief of Police Robert R. Bradley plan to reorganize the department significantly, but the Patrolmen’s Union must first agree on the changes before they can be implemented. They have yet to do so.
“The mayor thinks we will give him his reorganization for the test,” Leutcher said. “He’s trying to squeeze us, but this is a union of 90 people. We’re not going to negotiate an entire contract for seven positions.”
Curtatone denied that politics was at play.
‚ÄúJack Leutcher believes the police department should be run the way it was thirty years ago,‚Äù  Curtatone said. ‚ÄúThis is not about politics. This is about bringing the Somerville Police Department into the modern era of urban policing.‚Äù
There are currently 11 sergeants on the police force, Leutcher said. The city ordinance calls for 18. Curtatone said he will not fill the remaining seven spots until his reorganization plan is approved by the Patrolmen‚Äôs Union and there is a need for additional sergeants. 
“We have all shifts covered,” he said. “We would be wasting money if we promoted positions that were not needed.”
But Leutcher said all shifts are not covered in the Somerville Police Department.
“They’re covering for positions the mayor is saying we don’t need every night,” Leutcher said. “Lieutenants are coming in on overtime to do sergeants’ work, so the city is paying more money for the same job. I guess they are filling the positions, but just not in the right way for the people or the police of the city.”
Curtatone denied that lieutenant’s were being paid overtime to do sergeants work. He said before the recent promotions of five sergeants to lieutenants and three lieutenants to captains, the sergeants were already working out of grade as lieutenants.
  Leutcher said morale among the patrolmen is low because of a dissatisfaction with the leadership of the department.
  ‚ÄúIt‚Äôs a tough situation right now,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúThere are a lot of unhappy people here. Most of all, there are the officers who deserve to be promoted and are being denied their rights. The other day Chief Bradley asked me about the morale of the unit. I pointed to this situation with the test. I told him, ‚ÄòThese guys are looking at you and seeing that you got what you wanted. But we can‚Äôt even have our chance to move up. How are they supposed to feel?‚Äù