Boston Council Weighs $7.75 Million Police Superior Officers Contract at Hearing

BOSTON — May 13, 2024 — Boston's City Council Committee on Ways and Means heard testimony Monday on a $7,754,649 appropriation to fund the city's newly settled collective bargaining agreement with the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation, covering fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Committee Chair Brian Worrell convened the session, joined by nine colleagues including Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, who praised the contract's central innovation: a provision giving Police Commissioner discretion to replace sworn superior officers in the 9-1-1 operations center with civilian supervisors once the contract expires June 30, 2025. Budget Director Jim Williamson said the transfer would reduce the city's central collective bargaining reserve to $8.9 million, following 13 prior union supplemental appropriations totaling $59.5 million since July 2023. The contract includes base wage increases totaling roughly 10.5 percent over five years. Councilor Julia M. Mejia raised unresolved concerns about racial disparities in police discipline, noting that the contract's removal of arbitration as a remedy for certain disciplinary offenses could harm officers of color who she said have historically faced harsher consequences than white counterparts.