4th Blog

As everyone is aware, UNMPD is in the process of transitioning to a new, uniform firearms platform. While this is widely seen as a good thing, it does present the possibility of a unique opportunity for the POA. Our current contract contains this section:

"Section 4 FIREARMS
Firearms regulations of the Department prescribed in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
Manual, shall remain in full force and effect for the term of this Agreement. Employees who carry
a firearm shall be required to remain certified as required by The New Mexico Law Enforcement
Academy. UNM shall furnish ammunition for required certification. The Association will have
input on the development of firearms training policies."

The current SOP policy regarding firearms allows for Privately Owned Department Approved (PODA) firearms, as well as the ammunition required for their use, per UNMPD SOP 1-22-01, 1-22-05 and 1-22-08.

Today I received this email from Cmdr. Dennis Tafoya:

"Tim,

I wanted to inform you that I am in the process of updating the SOP to incorporate the requirement for a standardized firearm platform. The CBA references the SOP concerning firearms regulations, but it does not specify the membership's right to carry personal firearms.

As I mentioned to you in person, the department is transitioning to a uniform firearm platform. I also brought this up multiple times during our negotiations, so the POA has been aware of our plans for this transition for several months.

It's important to note that adopting a standardized firearm platform is widely recognized as a best practice among law enforcement agencies. Furthermore, according to Section 30 Management Rights, the Chief or their designee has the authority to update the SOP at any time to ensure the efficiency of UNMPD operations.

Moving forward, all sworn officers will be required to carry a department-issued firearm as a condition of employment. I hope this clarifies the department's position.

Regards,

Dennis"

I have been in contact with the UNM POA union representative. He assures me if the Department moves ahead with this forced transition and a change of the SOP, it IS a violation of the contract.

As can be seen in this blog's image, I am one who still carries a PODA firearm. If the Department continues with this planned move without negotiating with the POA, it will be grieved.

I want to be perfectly clear about this point: The purpose of grieving this change is not for me to keep my PODA firearm. It is to prevent UNMPD management from believing they can change/violate our contract at will.

With this possibility in mind, I would like to begin gathering suggestions for negotiating the firearms policy change. This will be a big change to our contract, so I want big ideas. Below are just some suggestions which could be used individually or in conjunction with other suggestions:

• UNM-based longevity pay negotiated separately from the annually negotiated pay increase.

• Remove the underlined from the newly negotiated Section 46 from the contract: "With the exception of a critical incident or a life-threatening or great bodily harm situation, POA bargaining unit members will not be transported to or from an event in the caged seat of a patrol unit."

• Institute a policy of allowing facial hair for men (women are already allowed to wear ponytails).

Please start your brainstorming sessions and begin sending them in to your POA board members (tim.king@unmpoa.org; chris.camacho@unmpoa.org; pat.klaurens@unmpoa.org). This way we will be prepared if/when the mandatory transition takes effect, is grieved and must be negotiated.