UPPD union eyes contract talks

With University Police contract negotiations looming on the horizon, the union representing most of Penn's 100-plus officers and detectives has begun outlining its demands for the new contract, which include better pension plans and higher salaries. The current three-year contract, which expires on July 31, provided officers with a 3 percent raise for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 contract years. University officials and the leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania Lodge 113 put together that contract during face-to-face negotiations, which in the past have been drawn-out and contentious. "We don't want the moon and stars, we want somewhere in between," said an FOP source who requested anonymity. The last set of contract negotiations left officers working without a contract for seven months until both sides agreed to the current version in March 1997. University Police Chief Maureen Rush refused to comment about the upcoming negotiations. FOP President Tony Ramos said he hopes to negotiate for a "police-type" pension plan similar to that of the Philadelphia Police Department. PPD officers have the option of retiring once they reach 45 years of age and receiving 2.5 percent of their salaries for each year they've served on the force, said Jim McDevitt, the vice president of the FOP chapter that represents the PPD. Many University Police officers and detectives come to Penn after retiring from the PPD. The FOP 113 source said that one officer who retired recently after working for the University Police for 30 years now receives just $1,100 a month -- less than 30 percent of his base pay. As a Philadelphia Police officer, he would be receiving 75 percent of his former salary. Ramos voiced concerns that the present contract discourages officers from joining the UPPD. "We have great officers here and they're going to leave," Ramos said, adding that the No. 1 reason officers leave the University Police force is the lack of a "police type" of pension. Ramos he wants the new contract to include higher salaries and a "salary structure across the board based upon years" for all officers and detectives, so that pay will reflect tenure. After five years, University Police officers normally earn a base salary of $35,800 a year, the FOP source said. Officers at Princeton University with the same length of service have an average base salary of about $44,300 and Yale Police officers with five years of service earn a base salary of $53,300, the source added. Neither Yale's nor Princeton's police forces have as much law enforcement power as Penn's force, which is the largest private police force in Pennsylvania. One University Police officer who asked to remain anonymous said that although the current "sorry" pension may be attractive to the significant number of retired Philadelphia Police officers who already have a pension plan from the city, officers who work only for University Police need other means to support themselves after they retire. "We've had people who've put in 25 years leave with a few hundred a month," the officer said. The officer added that there is a consensus among the younger officers that "if they could leave and go to another department, they would." Ramos recognized this problem, citing it as one of the reasons why changes in the contract have to be made. "We gotta keep the young guys here. If the money's here, they'll stay," he said. Otherwise, "you get what you pay for." Most police pension plans allow officers to retire after about 20 years -- a time period that McDevitt says is appropriate. "Anybody in law enforcement who works more than 20 years in a major metropolitan area will become burnt out," he said, citing a Michigan State University study from about 30 years ago. "This job is very wearing on someone, especially in a high crime area," McDevitt added. "You see people at their worst and sometimes that affects you." A University Police officer who requested anonymity agreed with McDevitt, saying, "You don't want to do this when you're in your late 50s and 60s." He added that the University Police officers need a pension comparable to that of the Philadelphia Police Department.