# Boston Recruits Claim They Were Rooked Out Of BPD Academy Class



## policelaborlaw.com (Mar 7, 2006)

*Boston Recruits Claim They Were Rooked Out Of BPD Academy Class*



*Posted*: March 21st, 2006 02:01 PM EDT

*MICHELE MCPHEE*
_Boston Herald_

Fourteen Boston police recruits said they were rooked out of the BPD academy class after officials waited until their orientation to tell them they were being cut from ranks because of budget woes, the Herald has learned.

On Saturday, 84 recruits attended orientation at BPD headquarters in Roxbury, where they filled out W-2 forms and medical documentation.

But after the two-hour session, the names of 14 people were read aloud and those individuals were taken into another room, where they were told they could not immediately join the ranks of Boston's finest because City Hall would not fund them.

"They told us the city doesn't have money for all of us," said a 28-year-old technology worker, who gave two weeks notice at his corporate job on March 13.

He said he quit his job at the request of BPD's human resources. "I feel disappointed. I'm embarrassed. I don't have my job anymore. I told my family I would have a career in the Boston Police Department.

"I was promised a job. I put in so much effort for my training. Now I'm unemployed," said the recruit, who asked to remain anonymous. "Why did the city wait until orientation to say they were out of money?"

Yesterday, BPD officials said the 14 recruits who were cut from the April 3 class will be at the top of the list to enter the academy in October.

Earlier this year, 176 people received "conditional letters of employment." Of those potential recruits, the list was whittled to 84 after all underwent medical, psychological and physical testing, said BPD spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.

Those 84 were told they were hired, but budget constraints prevented the BPD from putting more than 70 rookie cops into the academy. Driscoll said none of the 84 recruits was encouraged to quit current employment.

"The budget is a reality we have to deal with, and the current situation has the financial capability for 70 new officers - not 84," Driscoll said. "The commissioner is committed to getting every single one of these outstanding candidates on board. She will do everything possible to expedite their employment with the BPD.

"This is a great group of candidates. We have all intentions of hiring every one of them," Driscoll said. "As vacancies occur, and the budget allows, these candidates will be called to the academy."

A spokesman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the 70 recruits slated to enter the academy is the largest infusion of new cops to join the force in seven years, and among the most diverse classes in history.

In 2005, a total of 100 recruits entered the academy. In 2004, just 44 recruits were hired.

For more than a year, the BPD has operated at a depleted manpower level, while violent crime continues to skyrocket on city streets.

Last year marked the highest homicide rate in a decade, with 75 slayings. And from Jan. 1 to March 16 of this year, 77 people were shot, nearly double from the same period in 2005, when 46 people were hit by gunfire.


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2006)

Get used to it. We all went through it. If you want a job in LE, then you will have to put up w/ the crap of selection and training. I am sick of all these cry babies pouting about the budget, HR, the academy is too long/hard/stressful, the PT test, etc, etc, etc.
Any crying sould be a disqualification.


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## Macop (May 2, 2002)

_MSP75 wrote_
Get used to it. We all went through it. If you want a job in LE, then you will have to put up w/ the crap of selection and training. I am sick of all these cry babies pouting about the budget, HR, the academy is too long/hard/stressful, the PT test, etc, etc, etc.
Any crying sould be a disqualification.

Where does it say anything about people complaining about the academy or P/T testing. And yeah we all went through "it" assuming you are talking about the hiring process, I don't recall the article talking about that, and since when does the selection/hiring process include being told you have a job and at the last minute being told you don't. They should be pissed, your told that you are hired, give you two weeks, then after your done at your job they tell you, you are SOL, gimmie a break thats B.S. The city should have never done that.


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## Bravo2-7 (Jan 9, 2005)

I think that many of us were sitting on the edge waiting to find out if we were getting hired or not. I don't think many of us were sitting in the first day of orientation and then told that were going have to wait till the next academy. The only thing worse is the stories I've heard about the people whose chief pulled them out, and they were in like week 15 of the academy. As for the 14 who were pulled, I hope they stick with it and not be disheartened by this happening.


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## soxrock75 (Jul 26, 2004)

All of this seems like something Boston would do. Didn't the city also cancel an *entire *Academy Class a few days before it was slated to begin several years ago for budgetary reasons???


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## Capt. Kirk (Nov 21, 2002)

Yup they did, It was right before Xmas too if I recall. They did end up going but it was much later that year.


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