In Blow to City, Cops Get $1.7 Million in Back Pay

Ending three years of wrangling between Cambridge and its police officers, an independent arbitrator last week awarded city cops nearly $1.7 million in back pay.

Officers of the Cambridge Police Department, which does not include Harvard's police officers, had sought a retroactive pay raise after recently signing a new contract.

Leaders of the police officers' union threatened city officials with unspecified repercussions if officers did not receive the back pay.

Police officers praised the arbitrator's decision.

"We're satisfied with it," Stephen Hall, president of the Cambridge police officers' union, told the Cambridge Chronicle. "It's a happy medium, sort of, for everybody."

But Cambridge officials have blasted the ruling, claiming that it deals a significant monetary blow to a city that was already financially strapped. Officials say Cambridge's government now may not have enough cash to handle emergencies.

"It brings us down," the city's director of finances, James Maloney, told the Chronicle. "Any time you spend a million-fifty, it's not good news. I assumed there would be some...increase granted to the union."

"But it's a million-fifty we had last week that we don't have this week," Maloney added. "We're getting extremely close to having no free cash at all."

The decision of the arbitrator, Robert M. O'Brien, has been approved by the city council.

Despite the city's unhappiness with the ruling, O'Brien's decision found in favor or Cambridge on several key questions.

O'Brien mandated that the number of sick days offered police officers be reduced from ten to seven. And the arbitrator also ordered an increase in the amount officers must pay for their health insurance.

O'Brien's decision also permits the city to use evaluations of its police officers for counseling and job assignments, but not for discipline.