Public Employee Press

Outlawed: NYPD policy on civilians visiting inmates

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

The impartial Office Collective Bargaining has reversed the NYPD’s heavy-handed attempt to control off-duty visits to incarcerated individuals by its civilian employees.

The March 2 decision protects the rights and privacy of thousands of DC 37 members employed by the Police Dept. — clerical workers, tow truck drivers, computer analysts, crossing guards and others — who may visit friends or family members in jails and prisons.

In February 2004 the Police Dept. ordered civilian workers to notify supervisors and get approval before visiting inmates in correctional facilities — even those awaiting trial and never convicted of anything. The agency based its policy on the prohibition against NYPD employees associating with persons engaged in unlawful activity.

But DC 37 demanded that the city bargain over the intrusive new policy. When the union’s demand went unanswered, the DC 37 Law Dept. took the issue to OCB, arguing that the NYPD unilaterally changed terms and conditions of employment by restricting employees’ use of personal time and setting new parameters for discipline.

OCB rejected the city’s claim that visits to incarcerated persons by NYPD civilian employees would “create a conflict of interest or undermine the agency’s credibility and enforcement capabilities.”
The impartial board agreed with the union that “NYPD’s policy imposed new working conditions” and was therefore a mandatory subject for bargaining.

“The city failed to demonstrate that the approval policy is so central to its mission that it would outweigh the civilian employees’ interests in managing their free time,” the OCB decision read.

“Accordingly we hold that the policy does not fall directly within the scope of the city’s right to act unilaterally.”

OCB ordered the Police Dept. to stop enforcing the policy. Any attempt to reinstate the visitation restrictions would have to be negotiated with the union.

“Putting the policy into effect unilaterally was an improper labor practice,” said DC 37 lawyer Thomas Cooke. “This victory is significant in that OCB recognized public employees’ privacy rights. It was important to prevent this intrusive policy from being used against our members.”