Message from Rehoboth Police

Dear Town Residents,

We the members of your Rehoboth Police Department thru our respective labor organizations, MassCop Local #208 representing our Patrol Officers and MassCop Local #209 representing our Supervisors wish to inform you of a situation which we consider to be both unfortunate and unavoidable.

We would like to begin by reaffirming our deepest respect for the citizens of Rehoboth and to express our sincere gratitude to all of you for your continuous support of our department throughout the history of our town. We believe that most Rehoboth residents are unaware that our police officers have been serving in their official capacities without a labor agreement since the expiration of the last contract on July 1, 2014.

It is our belief that the Rehoboth Board of Selectmen has failed to engage in good faith negotiations with either of our labor organizations for the past two and one half years. We further believe that the Selectmen have deliberately stalled the progression of meaningful negotiations by routinely postponing or cancelling scheduled sessions.

While the Selectmen repeatedly inform us that they lack sufficient financial resources to provide us with a salary increase, an inquiry of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue revealed that the Town of Rehoboth has continuously maintained on average, 1.6 million dollars in Certified Free Cash during the entire negotiation period.

It remains an unfortunate fact that our police officers receive the lowest compensation when compared to all surrounding towns. This situation has led to a steady flow of experienced Rehoboth Police Officers leaving our department to pursue employment with neighboring agencies. Having experienced officers that were trained at the expense of the Rehoboth taxpayers leave for other agencies is undesirable and offers no benefit to the town or the police department.

Our Police Officers have a long history of cooperation with town leadership during challenging financial periods. This is evident by our acceptance of zero percent salary increases on three occasions since 2008. We are genuinely disappointed that the Board of Selectmen’s refusal to reasonably negotiate a new labor agreement with our respective memberships has led us to the arbitration process.

The Men and Women of the Rehoboth Police Department remain steadfast in our commitment to this community to provide all citizens with the highest level of dignified and respectful service. We ask for your support of our endeavor to seek a fair and equitable labor agreement with the Town of Rehoboth.

Finally, the entire membership of the Rehoboth Police Department would like to extend our best wishes to all town residents for a Happy, Healthy and Safe Holiday Season!

Respectfully,
The Members of MassCop Locals 208 & 209