Pass out a workout DVD to each officer---choice of Pilates, P90X, the bean etc etc......what are they $30 at the most, if you buy the diet diary and all......or better yet when they arrest the folks on the street selling DVDs stolen....and get them to do workout videos as punishment.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Schenectady police officers are known to call in sick a lot, something that generates higher overtime costs for the city as well as health insurance bills when they seek medical help. So it’s understandable that the city council would want to do something — anything — to make the men and women in blue less likely to miss work and less likely to visit a doctor. The only problem with the $42,000, 18-month contract the council is considering signing with an outfit known as Wellness Coaches USA is that there are no guarantees. It’s a lot of money for what seems like very little: the department’s 215 employees (and spouses) having one-time meetings with fitness coaches for “three to five minutes ... 15 max” to get personal health-risk appraisals and fitness plans, and occasional activities along the way to encourage the officers to stick with their plans. Wellness representatives claim that 95 percent of employees participate when they enter a workplace. While that’s a pretty impressive rate, initial participation offers no guarantee for future success (to paraphrase those mutual fund ads). And even if Schenectady cops (and other department personnel) did buy into the program — if they really got healthier — there wouldn’t be any guarantees it would stop those inclined to abuse. Many of the cops have unlimited sick time, so if they don’t feel like showing up for work, they don’t have to. Of course it would probably still be worth it to the city to do a program of this sort if it cut doctor visits by department personnel; the annual cost of coverage is in the neighborhood of $10,000 per employee, and the more the insurance gets used, the higher the premiums go. The same applies for employees in the city’s self-insurance program: The less they see a doctor, the less it costs the city. But the city needs to really find out about this program before it goes plunking down that kind of money. Are there alternatives that wouldn’t be as expensive? Maybe there’s one that would offer some kind of performance guarantee, akin to the city’s energy-saving contract with Siemens: If participants’ attendance records and insurance experience don’t improve, the city gets its money back.
Corrections SCHENECTADY — An article about Schenectady police wellness coaches in Tuesday’s editions was incorrect. The Schenectady City Council passed the expense out of committee but tabled it for a vote in two weeks.
Ironically, in an editorial today, the Gazette blames the problem on the air conditioners being too loud and that the reporter (among others) couldn't hear to get the story facts correct.
/me hands the Gazette some Q-Tips and a pressure washer /me hands City Hall a megaphone/amplifier
I was talking about right near the Cumberland Farms at the corner of Crane and Chrysler. I had an issue back in May regarding my registration. Well, I am in the process of taking care of it. Anyway, there were 2 cars, a Schenectady P.O. and a State Trooper sitting in one of the side lots. One of the cars picked up my plates as still having an issue with the tags, so they pulled me over. The officer who came to my window (the SPD officer) was very courteous. I told him that I had been working on it, and in fact, had a court date regarding the matter the next day. He let me go and everything went back to normal.
I was a little upset that I got pulled over since DMV stated to me when I paid the fine that it should take care of things as far as my registration, and therefore my plates, so I shouldn't have any issues. Well, I think that since there was just a murder in the neighborhood, they were being extra careful, so they weren't taking any chances letting anything go by.
Schenectady cop accused of violating wife's order of protection June 13, 2008 By Steven Cook (Contact) Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY — The Schenectady police officer accused last month of grabbing and pushing his wife has been arrested again, accused this time of violating an order of protection by repeatedly calling her. John W. Lewis is accused of repeatedly contacting his estranged wife late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Lewis allegedly called her at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and said he wanted to come to her place of employment, then called her on her cell and business phones around 1:30 a.m. and finally drove past a tavern she was visiting after work. “Apparently, it was a pretty innocuous conversation,” police spokesman Lt. Brian Kilcullen said, “but any contact is a violation of the order.” Lewis turned himself in Thursday evening and was charged with second-degree criminal contempt, a misdemeanor. He was arraigned and released on $500 bail. He was also suspended again, without pay. He spent 30 days suspended without pay last month after the initial incident, which resulted in a second-degree harassment charge. Lewis returned to the payroll two weeks ago, but not to work. In the original case, Lewis is accused of grabbing and pushing his wife on Plymouth Avenue during a dispute over their child, according to papers filed in court.
It always is and it's never been robbed. If they're running so fast during their shift then why are they overweight and out of shape?
Good point there shadow. And they aren't just running so fast on their regular shift....they work overtime too!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Well, I think that since there was just a murder in the neighborhood, they were being extra careful, so they weren't taking any chances letting anything go by.
I've met you Kevin.....you appear to fit the perfect profile of a murderer????
SCHENECTADY Councilwoman blasts proposed police fitness plan BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
A proposal for coaches to help the police get in shape hit an unexpected barrier Monday when Councilwoman Denise Brucker opposed the issue vehemently. Brucker, who is normally one of the council’s most ardent supporters of the police, not only spoke against the measure but also criticized the force for not using its money to better train officers. The force wants to use $41,000 from its training budget to hire wellness coaches, who would meet with any interested officer to develop personalized fitness plans. The coaches would also organize programs to encourage weight loss and track health statistics such as sick days and health insurance costs. The trouble, Brucker said, is that the force wants to use much of its training budget on fitness-related items rather than on education about issues more directly related to policing. Last year, most of the budget went to rehabbing the fi tness gym at the police headquarters. For the next 18 months as now proposed, the $80,000 budget would partly be used to pay the coaches, at a total cost of $42,000. “It’s one-third of the training budget this year,” Brucker said. “The fact that the police department is not utilizing training dollars to the fullest extent is disconcerting to me.” Assistant Chief Mark Chaires said the department historically hasn’t spent its entire training budget, but Brucker wasn’t impressed. She said the police should use that money in the way it was intended. “A significant amount of our training dollars should go to proactive training,” she said. Chaires acknowledged that training on how to handle tricky police situations is important. “A lot of experts will argue [when] you have an undertrained force … something gets out of control and then you have excessive force,” he said. The city has faced incidents alleging excessive force over the years, including one late in 2007 in which fi ve officers were suspended with pay. They are still off duty while the state Attorney General’s Office investigates. But Chaires said the city police can afford to spend their training budget on fitness. “I think our department is one of the most well-trained,” he said. Brucker said that if the police don’t need the money for training, they should use it to serve the 2,600 warrants that have stacked up over the past 14 years. “It’s my opinion that the money could be better spent,” she said. “You might think these outstanding warrants have nothing to do with fitness training — it might not — but I’d like to use the money for a better purpose.” Chaires said the police can serve the warrants without using the training budget. “As far as the warrants, I don’t know there’s any need to spend extra money,” he said, noting that patrol officers used to be required to serve warrants during every shift. Several council members spoke in favor of the wellness coaches. Councilman Gary McCarthy argued that it could reduce health care costs, while Councilwoman Barbara Blanchard said the department’s new fitness gym would be useless if police didn’t receive expert advice on how to use the equipment. But Brucker said police who want fitness training should pay for it themselves. “I too go to a gym, and I pay for it,” she said. “I just don’t feel comfortable voting for this, knowing the situation the city is in with spending and everything.” Councilman Mark Blanchfield told her the program might save money in the long run. “If we save one day off per year, per officer, we would make this up three times over,” he said. The issue was passed out of the Public Safety Committee by a vote of 2-1, with Brucker voting no while McCarthy and Councilman Joseph Allen voted in favor. The full council will vote next Monday.
SCHENECTADY Comp time looms as key City seeking restrictions in its police arbitration BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
The city’s arbitrator is willing to consider a binding police contract that restricts compensatory time off, bucking a trend in which Schenectady’s arbitrated contracts focus on pay raises and nothing else. The Public Employment Relations Board said the comp time issue would be fair game for the arbitrators, but city arbitrator and Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden would still need to get one of his fellow arbitrators to side with him to make any decisions on the matter. The three appointed arbitrators — one chosen by the city, one by the police union, and then one chosen by the two — will begin meeting Thursday to make their final decisions on the contract. Van Norden said it may take months for them to agree to a two-year contract. Going into the first meeting, Van Norden said he intends to consider any issues raised by either the city or the police union except for those that are banned under state statute. PERB officials said that leaves the door wide open. Arbitrators can retain, remove or change any item currently in the police contract, according to PERB Director of Litigation David Quinn. Van Norden said the comp time issue in particular seemed safe to discuss. “It is a pay scale thing,” he said. Quinn agreed that the arbitrators could legally change the city’s comp time policy. In other cities, he said, arbitrators do make wide-ranging decisions in contract disputes. But in Schenectady’s history at least, arbitrators usually change little beyond the officers’ actual salary. So even though Van Norden indicated a willingness to take on bigger issues, Mayor Brian U. Stratton said he’s still expecting the arbitrators to approve a cost-ofliving raise and little else. “It’s too bad. It’s the real substantive issues that lead to management reform,” he said. “It’s probably not likely. If something happens and they see the light, that would be wonderful — but I’m not counting on it.” Despite his pessimism, he tried hard to persuade the arbitrators to limit comp time. “The runaway comp time and union time leads to tremendous staffing problems,” he said. Stratton wants police to be simply paid for all overtime work. He has cited an internal analysis of police compensatory time usage, which found it would be cheaper to pay officers overtime than to let them continue to take time off in exchange for time worked. COMP TIME ISSUE A Sunday Gazette review also found that police use their accumulated comp days to avoid working weekends, to the point where many weekend shifts are severely understaffed. On some Saturday evenings, only five officers reported for duty, forcing the city to call in other staff on overtime. Quinn said the arbitrators can clearly rule on the comp time issue because a policy for it already exists. Although the governing statute says that arbitrators can make decisions on “wages, salaries, hours and other terms of employment,” the “other” clause has been determined to mean everything else in the contract, Quinn said . There are no other rules to guide the arbitrators, Quinn added. There are a lot of issues for the arbitrators to consider. Stratton has said he wants contractual restrictions on compensatory time and union time, promotions by merit instead of seniority, and an employee contribution to health insurance costs. Police union President Robert Hamilton has not made his proposals public, but has said the city keeps changing its priorities and proposals, making it impossible to come up with compromises. Both sides agree on one thing: They don’t think the arbitrated contract will solve any of their disputes. Whatever decisions are made will probably come from just one arbitrator, even though the panel consists of three members. That’s because the city and the union each get to appoint one member. Van Norden is the city’s arbitrator, while the union sent its attorney, Michael Ravalli. A third arbitrator was chosen when city and union officials crossed every other name off a list provided by the state Public Employment Relations Board. Since the city and union attorneys generally do not agree with each other, the third arbitrator usually breaks the tie.
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