Governor Deval Patrick has expressed hopes of replacing police officers on construction sites with flagmen. Police details are one of the oldest--and most controversial--local traditions, and Patrick won't have an easy time getting this done.
The detail is great for police officers in that they can make more cash, but it hits taxpayers hard. As Casey Ross at the Herald points out, "We are the only state that does not use flagmen." There will always be pork, but the detail is vulnerable because it is outdated. Furthermore, several BPD officers are under suspicion of filing false detail hours and raking in the cash.
Michele McPhee at the Herald defended the detail vigorously and named other places where the state could cut costs, but, as John Gonzalez points out at Boston Daily: "Using civilian flaggers would save the commonwealth somewhere between $36 and $66 million per year." McPhee's own paper published that Massachusetts spent $44 million on construction details in 2006.
Your thoughts? Are police officers just double-dipping? Should Patrick be looking elsewhere?
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit