The St. Croix Police Benevolent Association is trying to block Gov. Charles Turnbull’s efforts to form a special security unit for his office and the lieutenant governor’s.
PBA President Naomi Joseph said the move would violate the collective bargaining agreement between police officers and the government. Because of that, the PBA is asking the Public Employees Relations Board to issue a cease and desist order against the administration.
Currently, active duty police officers are assigned to the governor's and lieutenant governor’s security units, which costs the government some $20,000 a month in police overtime. To address the issue, Turnbull ordered the formation of the executive security unit within the police department.
A pay scale for the unit would be included in the Police Department’s budget every year and members would be unclassified employees, retaining their respective ranks and seniority in the departments they were in before being assigned to the unit. They would be able to test for promotion.
That, however, doesn’t sit well with the PBA. Officers in the proposed unit "aren’t going to be part of the police department," Joseph said. "They’re not going to be doing police work."
The idea that the security unit members would still retain their ranks and be able to take promotional exams makes it unfair for other officers, Joseph said.
"You’re either in or you're out," she said. "They can’t use police who are part of a bargaining unit without negotiating – point blank. What they are trying to do is destroy the bargaining unit."
According to Turnbull, the unit will be headed by a director, to be designated by the police commissioner with the approval of the governor. The unit will protect the chief executive and his second-in-command on a 24-hour basis. Members of the unit will accompany their charges outside the territory and escort visiting dignitaries and officials of the Governor’s Office. They will also be responsible for transportation, guarding the governor and the lieutenant governor’s residences and other duties the governor assigns.
