Click here to see a PDF of the police union's agreement with the city.
PEABODY — New York City’s 24,000 police officers don’t get Sept. 11 as a paid holiday, but the Peabody police do.
“We don’t do it, and I’ve never heard of it,” said Joseph Mancini, a spokesman for the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association of New York City.
The four-year Peabody police contract, which the city released Thursday, gives time-and-a-quarter pay to any officer who works on Sept. 11. The day of the terrorist attacks has yet to be recognized as a holiday nationally or statewide.
The contract clause is a first for Peabody, and from all indications, the Police Department is the first in the state, if not the nation, to get Sept. 11 as a paid holiday.
Representatives of other police unions and public safety agencies — who oversee nearly 1,000 unions in all — couldn’t point to a single instance where it’s happened elsewhere.
“I’m not aware of any IBPO locals that have negotiated 9/11 as a paid holiday,” said Stephanie Zaiser, spokeswoman for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents 250 unions in the United States.
It was news to Rich Roberts of the International Union of Police Associations, which represents 500 unions in the United States and the Caribbean.
Events like Sept. 11 and Pearl Harbor stay with you, Roberts said. He had no objection to police officers in Peabody getting Sept. 11 as a paid holiday.
“It’s the single greatest loss of law enforcement in history,” he said.
Craig Fischer, a spokesman for Police Executive Research Forum, said no one in his Washington, D.C.-based think tank has heard of such a thing.
“From my experience, I don’t know of any other contract that has this,” said attorney Ken Grace of the Massachusetts Coalition of Police.
The coalition, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, represents 154 unions across the state, according to its Web site.
Besides their Sept. 11 pay, Peabody officers will receive a 13 percent pay raise over four years, increased bonuses for longevity, and weapons training pay increases. The city also agreed to use uniformed police officers for detail duty.
In exchange, the police will pay a larger portion of their health care costs, more for doctor’s office and emergency room visits and more for their prescriptions. They also agreed to submit to random drug testing.
Assistant City Solicitor Daniel Cocuzzo, who negotiated on the city’s behalf, said previously that he was happy that officers were willing to step up to the plate and negotiate the testing.
Grace, who sat at the table with Peabody’s negotiations team, said the Sept. 11 paid holiday recognizes the sacrifice that public safety workers make in their profession.
Sept. 11 and Pearl Harbor stand apart in national history, Grace said. He said the police officers’ holiday is a way of thinking about the people who lost their lives that day.
“They’re proud of the way those people acted in that profession, and they try to do the same kind of sacrifice in their daily job,” he said of Peabody officers.
The City Council still needs to vote to fund the new contract for this year.
Click here to see a PDF of the police union's agreement with the city.
Local News
Peabody police could be first in state to get 9/11 holiday pay
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'Quiz Show' team triumphs over competition
HAMILTON — Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School is the "High School Quiz Show" champion for the second year in a row.
The series' championship match — in which Hamilton-Wenham beat a team from Arlington High School — was filmed in February but aired on Sunday. -
HSI gives out awards for preservation
SALEM — Two homeowners, a rooming house owner and leaders of a historic church were among those honored this month by Historic Salem Inc. with 2012 preservation awards.
Stephen Morris, who owned a rooming house at 315-317 Essex St. that had been a source of neighborhood complaints, was recognized for transforming the property into six condominiums. HSI said he worked with local architect Morris Schopf, "to create an exterior that fits seamlessly into the McIntire Historic District." -
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Fraud is suspected in a case where a woman on Bridge Street had gotten weeks of phone calls from someone asking for money. On May 15 she got another call announcing her grandson was in an accident in Trinidad and needed $3,100. She was told a taxi would take her to the bank, then to Western Union in Peabody where she was to wire the money. "The caller advised her not to tell anyone about what she was doing," according to the log at 6:41 p.m. The woman did as she was told. Later, her family found out and they took her to police, who are investigating. -
Higgins Middle School honor roll
PEABODY — The following students were named to the honor roll for the third quarter of the 2011-2012 academic year at Higgins Middle School:
PRINCIPAL'S LIST
Grade six: Margaret Ambeliotis, Kevin Aroke, Sarah Buckley, Cameron Buckley, Allison Cormier, Ryan Cormier, Ava Marotta, Erin Melin, Emily Nelson, Deanna Ruggiero, Samuel Sullivan, Nicole Thomas. -
Photo Gallery: 2012 Graduations
Images of the Class of 2012 for North Shore high schools, colleges and universities. Updated throughout the graduation season.
- Salem State University 2012 graduates
- Church grotto sparks controversy
- Crash victim dies despite heroic rescue effort
- Prep graduates headed down different paths
- Danvers gears up for lengthy rail-trail party
- Woman charged with trying to infect landlord
- Man trapped in two-car accident
- Wild chase ends in suspect's capture
- Salem State University graduations
- Endicott College graduation
- Gordon College awards 361 bachelor's degrees, 34 master's
- Local students graduate from Endicott College
- 'Innovative' Beverly High chosen for national event
- Danvers High's technology will trickle down to grade schools
- Brothers in boots get sneak peek at new fire truck
- 6th District Race: A look at the men behind the candidates
- Dad, daughter get degrees at Salem State
- Peabody bookie wins delay in prison sentence
- Police
- HSI puts St. Joseph appeal on hold
- Bostik will pay $600K in fines for explosion
- Turner's Seafood eyes Danvers location
- Promoting a bike-friendly city
- Judge orders brawling seniors to avoid each other
- A dramatic new look for an old church
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