An arbitrator has squashed D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier’s “All Hands on Deck” program, ruling that the chief’s effort to flood the streets with cops violated the officers’ contract.
John C. Truesdale ruled Thursday that Lanier’s much-ballyhooed initiative “did not honor and support” the union agreement and broke “applicable laws, rules and regulations.” He ordered Lanier to cancel All Hands events for the rest of the year and to pay the union overtime for the first several events from the beginning the year.
It’s a crushing blow to one of the centerpieces of Lanier’s regime. Lanier has given All Hands credit in helping the city curb its homicides to a decade’s low. It’s not clear how much the overtime tab will be, but it is likely to be enormous: All Hands deployed thousands of officers for full shifts at up to three days per event.
The city has narrow options now. It can appeal Thursday’s decision to an employee board, but it faces the difficult legal burden of showing that Truesdale misinterpreted the law.
Police union Chairman Kris Baumann hailed Truesdale’s decision.
“If they really believed that All Hands on Deck was keeping people safe, then why don’t have All Hands on Deck everyday?” he said.
Instead, Mayor Adrian Fenty has slashed the department’s budget, Baumann said.
“They can either admit that All Hands on Deck doesn’t work in cutting crime, or they can admit that they’re going to undermine their special crime-fighting strategy to pay for the summer jobs program next year,” he said.
The chief couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. Attorney General Peter Nickles said he was disappointed to hear of Truesdale’s decision.
“It has been a really effective strategy,” he said.
Rank-and-file cops hate the All Hands events, which they say are more focused on public relations than on public policy. Critics pointed out that it deprived police districts of manpower during the week. On Halloween 2007, for instance, violence spiked in the District and there weren’t enough cops to answer the calls. There had been an All Hands the previous weekend and many officers had taken Halloween off as compensation for their extra effort.
Lanier has quietly scaled back All Hands since starting the first one in 2007, but has refused to abandon the program. In fact, this year, she expanded it, from five events in 2007-08 to eight this year.
