Without their top officials around to respond to concerns, members of the St. Thomas/St. John District’s two police unions spent hours Friday protesting everything from poor working conditions to problems at the collective bargaining table, while senators spent hours agreeing with them and talking about the bills they’ll be introducing to deal with some of the issues.
Friday’s meeting of the Public Safety, Homeland Security and Justice Committee was meant to discuss the unions’ expired contracts, but it soon turned into an opportunity for members to continue talking about the same problems that have been going on for years, which — despite the recent change in police commissioners — they said have largely gone unfixed.
While Law Enforcement Supervisors Union (LESU) head Lt. Joseph Gumbs said the officers generally have a better working relationship with Police Commissioner Novelle Francis Jr., the general consensus during the meeting was that there is an overall lack of communication between the rank and file employees and management.
Most of the meeting, however, was a back and forth between union members and senators over the role federal law enforcement officers play when they’re on assignment in the territory. While committee chairman Sen. Sammuel Sanes said early on that they would not be discussing a bill recently submitted by the governor to give federal agents arresting powers, the conversation frequently hit upon some variation of the issue.
And in the end, union members made it clear that they were opposed to the bill and the idea of supplementing the force with federal agents. If more manpower is needed, Corrections officers can go through the police training instead and can be called on for assistance — that would be a better use of the territory’s resources, Gumbs said.
The government should stop "pandering to different federal agencies" and take care of its officers at home, he added.
Senators chimed in from time to time, with some saying that the federal government "selectively prosecutes" its agents, while the only recommendation made for VIPD officers charged with criminal offenses is detention without bail. There should be protocols put in place for how these officers should be treated, said Sen. Alvin L. Williams.
Williams told the union members that he would be needing their support on a bill giving officers hazardous duty pay. Police Benevolent Association President Detective Donald Liburd said the compensation would be welcome and cited a case where officers were put at risk — because "immigration didn’t do their job" — when they had to intercept illegal immigrants with hepatitis and tuberculosis coming into St. John.
While Gumbs also spoke about the need for an on-staff psychiatrist or psychologist, Liburd discussed the need for standardized police examinations, better equipment and pay increases for officers who have served on the force for more than 25 years. There’s sewage running through the district’s prison cells and it’s putting the officers’ health and safety at risk, Liburd added.
Meanwhile, the LESU has been operating under an expired collective bargaining agreement since 2005, and while recent attempts at a new contract have been made, negotiations were suspended by the government a few months ago, Gumbs said.
Sanes said Friday that another committee meeting will be held so that the department’s top brass can address the unions’ concerns, but added later that Francis was invited to Friday’s meeting and didn’t show up.
When contacted Friday, Francis said he wasn’t aware he had been invited but had authorized the unions to attend the meeting.
Fire Services representatives echoed many of these remarks later in the meeting and said that much of the agency’s resources are being mismanaged.
Present during Friday’s meeting were Sanes and Sens. Patrick Simeon Sprauve, Michael Thurland, Celestino A. White Sr. and Williams.
