Board of Aldermen 09-09-2020 Page 24
Alderman Dowd
This particular group and | can defer in a moment to Deputy Chief Testaverde, but this group had a
relatively low increase to the last contract around. And right at the moment, this group is underpaid in
relationship to their peers in other cities in the area. So this, while it is 2 % % for 2 years, is probably a very
fair, given their status from the last contract and the fact that there is a small number in this group and that
some of these people are desperately in need of getting on par with their equals. Deputy Chief?
Deputy Chief Testaverde
Thank you, Alderman Dowd, good evening everyone. | appreciate the opportunity to point out a couple of
the specifics of this contract. So first of all, this group is a civilian group within our agency. Nashua Police
has 170 officers as you know when we are at full complement, which we are getting close fortunately. But
we have roughly 68 civilians that are the backbone of the agency. Without this civilian population, we
would be taking numerous officers off the street to do this work.
This Union ins particular has 28 individuals and they are our custodians, our fleet maintenance, our auto
mechanics, our administrative assistants in the detective bureau, professional standards services, our
booking specialists; these are civilian employees that full time book prisoners that we bring in and on a day-
to-day basis of being exposed to not only the COVID pandemic, but MERSA, Hepatitis, every other
communicable disease you can name. Our records, our finance people, Karen Smith who you are very
familiar with, all of her people, our crime analyst and our accreditation. Out of the 28 individuals | can tell
you that over 1/3 are making $38,000.00 a year. There are only three individuals that break the $50,000.00
a year mark, and | hate talking about numbers you know just matter of factly like that but it is important for
you to know out of those 3 individuals, one has been employed for 37 years by the Nashua Police
Department and just barely cracks the $50,000.00 mark. The other two are crime analysists who is required
that she have a Master’s Degree to do what she does and many other requests that the men and women
that I’m looking at right now have made of the Nashua Police Department, she’s integral in us being able to
get you the information that you need. And our Accreditation Manager, which now more than ever as you
all know, we tote that we’ve been accredited since 1991 and now more than ever in this country, | truly
believe that accreditation is what will separate quality, professional Police Departments, from other areas of
the country that are having trouble. So Mr. William Pease is worth his weight, literally, in gold.
Our employees are making a very, very meager amount of money; this is a fair contract given the
pandemic, given the insurance hike, given the pension hike and given the amount of Nashuans that are out
of work right now. And | said last time to Budget Review, but I’d like you all to hear, wnen the Mayor
speaks and when you all speak, and you provide the Police Department with the information that you
provide us with, we do listen. And that’s why | am pointing out we understand what the plight is for the City;
we understand where we are about to head next year financially as a City. But you are looking at a small
population of individuals, these are our people, these are your people and they are making a very meager
amount. And honestly, | just think It’s professional dedication that keeps a lot of them coming back here. |
am amazed with this particular group, we do not have the retention issue that some other areas have and |
am afraid in the future, you will see — if you are good enough to pass this and I'll entertain any questions by
any of you, but if you are good enough, you will see me in the future advocating passionately to get their
wages up. But for now, this group | want to make one final comment, | speak to a lot of my peers outside of
the Police Department throughout the City, when they are negotiating contracts, some of the plights that
they have. They have good employees, but let’s face it, contract negotiations — no one like to be involved
in them. | believe that Attorney Bolton would agree, because he sits in the room through most of these.
This group, I’ve never had an easier contract negotiation session; they were professional, they were
understanding, they were absolutely fair and it was a matter of a handful of meetings during the pandemic
and we were able to come to an agreement. And I'll end it with, | would always say this is a fair contract or
| wouldn’t be before you, but this is not an outstanding contract as far as financially benefiting our
employees, unfortunately. But they want to be part of the solution right now and not part of the problem.
With that, | defer to any questions.
