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| August 2002 - Daily News 9/11 Special Edition |
he
PBA is here for one reason and one reason only — to serve you and
your fellow police officers. Whether it’s representing you in contract
negotiations, providing health or legal services or making sure the department
lives up to the terms of the labor agreement, the union is here to try
to make your life and job better. This year, along with securing a contract
that Mayor Bloomberg in his State of the City speech said was worth $115
million more than the municipal coalition’s contract, and besides
improving your health, optical and dental benefits, the PBA has taken
some innovative legal actions on behalf of our members.
Police officer David Gonzalez was shot and seriously wounded as he attempted to arrest William Hodges, an armed low-level crack dealer, in 1999. Supreme Court Justice Laura Blackburne released this cop-shooting crack dealer on a technicality known as the speedy trial provision. The Queens DA is appealing the decision, confident he can show that delays in the case were not attributable to his office.
The PBA staged several major news conferences on the courthouse steps to denounce the judge and her decision to release a would-be cop-killer back onto the streets of this great city. We had hoped to stir enough public outcry with these news conferences to persuade the judge to reconsider her wrong-headed decision and let a jury decide the merits of the case, but she was not swayed.
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| December 2002 - American Police Beat |
Gonzalez, promoted to detective, still walks with a limp from the bullet fragments in his hip. He had to sit in court and see the man who tried to kill him walk out of Queens Supreme Court free on a technicality. The DA’s appeal will take almost a year to be decided. So, in the spirit of doing every thing possible to serve our members’ best interests, the PBA has filed a civil suit against Hodges to force him to pay money-damages to the police officer he put a bullet into for the pain and damage that officer has suffered.
Our suit is an effort to hold a cop-shooter accountable even if the criminal courts will not. We’re hoping the civil court will.
The PBA is also suing a cop killer who gunned down two of our members — Police Officers John Scarangella and Richard Rainey. Scarangella was killed and Rainey seriously wounded 22 years ago by Black Liberation Army member Anthony LaBorde.
LaBorde had sued the State Department of Corrections and got $15,000 deposited to his inmate account. The PBA sued, relying on the "Son of Sam" law that allows money to be recovered by crime victims. It may not be a great deal of money but the PBA would rather it go to victims and their families than to make the killer’s life a little more comfortable in prison.
In 2002, the PBA undertook a high-profile print and radio advertising campaign to remind opinion-makers and the public alike of what our police officers mean to the safety and economic strength of this city. Examples of the full-page newspaper ads that went into this campaign are reprinted above, and below.
This issue of The PBA Magazine will cover some of the things the PBA has done and is doing, both this year and last, to make your life better, as well as report on some of the great work that our members have done. One article explains how a legal action under the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) might result in cash payments to our members and a much better opportunity to get a day off when you want it. Another story outlines what it takes to win legal and legislative battles for your benefit. It is a slow, labor-intensive process, but it gets results. The PBA works for you. I hope you will find this issue of The PBA Magazine useful and informative.
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At left: March 2002
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