Drug testing part of new Braintree police contracts

The town council approved a three-year contract with its police unions that includes a provision for random drug testing.

September 22, 2017

BRAINTREE – New contracts with town police unions call for officers to undergo random drug testing.

The contracts, with the Braintree Police Superior Officers Association and the Braintree Police Officers Association, were approved by the town council Tuesday night. They are retroactive to July 1, 2016, and call for a pay raise of 2 percent in the first year and 2.5 percent in the second and third years.

The cost of the pay increases and other items in the contracts is $344,000. The money was set aside last year.

In a memo sent Tuesday to the town council, Mayor Joseph Sullivan said the drug-testing provision is a major benefit for the town.

Making evidence officer a higher-paying specialist position is another plus, the mayor said. The appointing of an evidence officer will require the mayor's approval.

Sullivan also cited "achieving the goal of national accreditation standards of operation for the department."

National accreditation of the department has been an objective of Police Chief Paul Shastany since his appointment last year in the wake of a scandal involving the department's evidence room. An audit of the evidence room showed that cash, drugs and guns were missing.