Joomla! site syndication http://fopno.net Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:22:51 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://fopno.net/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://fopno.net Joomla! site syndication http://fopno.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=111 FOP MEETING DATE CHANGED Due to a conflict with the Saints' home opener, the next FOP meeting date has been changed to Wednesday, September 8, 2010. The meeting will be held at Our Lady of the Rosary School Cafeteria, located at 1342 Moss Street (entrance and parking on Esplanade Ave). Dinner will be served at 6:30PM and the meeting will start at 7:00PM. Chef John Schluter will be preparing Italian sausage with pasta and marinara sauce; garlic bread; Caesar salad; and dessert. SGT. JOSEPH BOVIA FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS U.S. Marine Sergeant Joseph Bovia, son of NOPD Sergeant Herbert Bovia, was killed in action in Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 31, 2010. Like his father, a 30 year NOPD veteran, Joseph was committed to service. He had served two tours of duty in Iraq prior to his current deployment. Joseph joined the Marines at age 17. He was 24 at the time of his death. Visitation is scheduled for Tuesday, September 7, 2010, from 6:00PM - 9:00PM at First Baptist Church of New Orleans located at 5290 Canal Blvd. Funeral services will be held at that same location on Wednesday, September 8, 2010, at 11:00AM. Burial will follow at Garden of Memories (Airline and Transcontinental). Joseph will be laid to rest with full military honors. Please keep Marine Sgt. Joseph Bovia, his parents Herbie and Teresa Bovia, and his entire family in your thoughts and in your prayers. News - Latest Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:11:06 +0100 http://fopno.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110 MEETING WITH C.A.O. ANDY KOPPLIN This evening the Fraternal Order of Police (Henry Dean, Jim Gallagher, Claude Schlesinger) met with New Orleans Deputy Mayor and CAO Andy Kopplin to discuss the City's new Vehicle Policy. Lt. Col. Jerry Sneed, Deputy Mayor of Public Safety also attended. Immediately, the FOP requested that the implementation of the policy be delayed until August 29, 2010. The FOP cited the hardship placed on police officers, who on top of a 10% pay cut, may have to purchase a new car or seek a new insurance policy. CAO Kopplin was amenable to this idea, stating he understood the hardships of making such large decisions in such a short period of time. He agreed to seek permission of the Mayor to delay implementation of the plan. A final answer should be available in the next day or two. The FOP shared our information concerning the difficulty in obtaining an insurance rider that met the standards set in the Vehicle Policy. Mr. Kopplin acknowledged the problem, and stated that he was looking at alternatives. If the insurance riders required were not available to officers, Mr. Kopplin stated he would revise of pull that section of the Vehicle Policy. The FOP explained the current practice of officers entering the A number of their take home vehicles into the TRIP system when the vehicle was in use, as a method of tracking who should pay the additional fees and who should not. We also pointed out that the TRIP system reduced the charges to a per day charge, so that officers were not charged the additional fee when the take home vehicle was not available. Mr. Kopplin stated that sounded like a workable system and had no objections to its continuance. He agreed that an officer should not be charged for the use of a vehicle when that vehicle was not available. The FOP explained the IRS's taxable fringe benefit rule did not apply to police vehicles, and asked that police officers be exempted from having to complete the Take-Home Vehicle Log . Mr. Kopplin asked the FOP to furnish documentation as to the IRS exemption for police cars, and stated he would take a look at the Vehicle Log issue. He also stated that it may benefit the City to have officers maintain the log, even if it was not required by the IRS. The FOP will furnish the requested documentation to the CAO's office. The FOP attempted to address the subject of mileage measurements and starting and stopping points. Lt. Col Sneed was adamant that the distance would be measured from workplace to domicile, but Mr. Kopplin allowed that any reliable form of measuring that distance would be acceptable, as long as it was approved by officers' chain of command. The FOP addressed numerous specific issues that have been brought to us by our members, such as K-9 officers, SWAT team members, Carpenter Shop, etc. In each case Mr. Kopplin responded that he would be willing to review any reasonable request for exemption or exception, as long as that request was forwarded through the officers' chain of command and had the approval of the Superintendent of Police. We found our first meeting with the CAO to be very positive, and believe we were successful in having Mr. Kopplin take a second look at some areas of the Vehicle Policy. We thank both Mr. Kopplin and Lt. Col. Sneed for taking the time to meet with the Fraternal Order of Police, and look forward to meeting with them both in the future. News - Latest Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:52:57 +0100 http://fopno.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=109 SPECIAL CIVIL SERVICE MEETING The New Orleans Civil Service Commission has called a special meeting for Wednesday, July 28, 2010, at 5:00PM, to consider a request from Mayor Landrieu to allow a waiver of the requirement in Civil Service Rule XII, Section 9.1 for 30 calendar days notice prior to imposing one unpaid furlough day each pay period for the remainder of 2010 in response to the City budget crisis. The meeting is open to the public, however seating in the Civil Service Commission chamber is limited. The Fraternal Order of Police will be on hand, along with our Attorney Claude Schlesinger, to represent the interests of our members. Any member who may wish to attend is reminded that they cannot attend a Civil Service Commission meeting while on duty. They must be off-duty, or on a paid leave status. This is a very emotional subject dealing with our members' ability to earn a living wage and put food on our families' table. Members who may attend are reminded to act in a professional, courteous manner at all times. News - Latest Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:53:54 +0100 http://fopno.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108 MANDATORY UNPAID FURLOUGH This afternoon, New Orleans Deputy Mayor and CAO Andrew Kopplin sent a correspondence addressed to all City of New Orleans employees, announcing the implementation of a mandatory, unpaid furlough program, to go into effect on August 1, 2010. In part, that correspondence reads, Therefore we are left with only the most unappealing of alternatives in order to balance this year's budget as required by law. As a result, we are implementing a one (1) day per pay period furlough for all employees; classified and unclassified, City Administration and Public Safety, general fund and non-general fund. Mayor Landrieu will also participate in the furlough. The furlough will be effective from August 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010. . Also this afternoon, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the Black Organization of Police (BOP) and the Police Association of New Orleans (PANO), met to discuss the letter referenced above. That meeting culminated with the issuance of a joint press release opposing the implementation of the administration's furlough proposal. The Fraternal Order of Police, through our attorney Claude Schlesinger, placed calls to the Department of Labor and the Civil Service Commission in an attempt to gain information as to the legality of the proposed furlough plan under the Fair Labor and Standards Act, and whether the implementation of such a proposal would require prior approval from the Civil Service Commission. As of this writing, we are awaiting response to those calls. The Fraternal Order of Police has meetings scheduled with Superintendent Serpas during the morning hours on Wednesday, July 28, 2010; and with CAO Kopplin during the afternoon on that same date. It is our intention to strongly oppose the implementation of the furlough plan at both of those meetings. Further, we intend to ask Chief Serpas, if the plan is to go into effect as scheduled, to relax current restrictions on the working of Paid Details for commissioned employees negatively impacted by the proposal. The body of the FOP, BOP PANO joint press release is as follows: While we recognize the city's current budget problems, the three organizations, BOP, FOP and PANO, unite in our opposition to the administration's furlough proposal. We are police officers. We will continue to honor our oath to protect and serve. But, on behalf of our members and the citizens of New Orleans, we urge the administration to work toward a solution that will not so negatively impact public safety. We stand ready to meet with the administration to discuss this matter further. Henry Dean, FOP Paul Noel, PANO Simon Hargrove, BOP We will keep all of our members informed as additional information comes available. News - Latest Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:49:12 +0100 http://fopno.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=107 NOPD POLICY CHANGES We have received numerous calls concerning proposed policy changes being implemented by Chief Serpas. Some of the information being spread around the department is accurate and some of the information is not. Over the past several days we have exchanged emails with the Chief Serpas and/or the Major Staff on issues such as uncompensated overtime; reinstitution of J T time in the TRIP system; changes to furlough request policies for EAP employees; and the status of probationary employees. We also attended yesterday's Civil Service Commission meeting and met privately with Civil Service Commission Director Lisa Hudson. FOP Attorney Claude Schlesinger met yesterday with Superintendent Serpas. We have a meeting scheduled with Chief Serpas on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 (along with PANO and BOP) to discuss a host of issues facing our members. We are asking our members forbearance and trust. There are several issues we hope to resolve at this meeting, and we will be in a much better position to share information with our membership once this meeting has taken place. If any member has a particular issue or problem they would like us to address with Superintendent Serpas, please advise us via return email. News - Latest Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:48:29 +0100