Nov 25, 2009 11:24 pm US/Eastern
I-Team: Companies Owe BPD Millions For Details
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Records that the I-Team obtained show that the Walsh Corporation owes $391,000 for police details.
WBZ
An I-Team investigation has found that companies are stiffing the Boston Police department big time when it comes to money they owe for police details on construction sights or for crowd control. Millions of dollars are being lost at a time when every penny is needed.
"I'm wondering if we can ask you some questions about your unpaid bills?"
I-Team reporter Kathy Curran tried to talk with Patrick Walsh, Jr. about the money he owes. Walsh did not answer the question. Records that the I-Team obtained show that the Walsh Corporation owes $391,000 for police details. The company hasn't paid a cent since 2006.
I am frustrated and wish I could collect every cent," says Christopher Fox, Chief of the Bureau of Administration and Technology at the Boston Police Department.
Figures from that department show hundreds of companies with outstanding balances totaling nearly $6,000,000. That's a tab the city gets stuck with because they pay the detail cops whether the contractor pays or not. Translation? A cash crunch for the city. "I think it's no secret that in these tough fiscal times, we simply don't have enough money to do many of the things we want to do," says Fox.
So what could $6,000,000 do? It would cover the cost of 173 police cruisers and pay about 82 cops to walk the beat. And the city could use that money. There's still a possibility that there could be more cuts in local aid this year," says Sam Tyler of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.
The I-Team wanted to know why Colm O'Shea, the owner of JRF Corporation in Jamaica Plain, has not paid the police department the $236,000 he owes for police details. He told us the economy hasn't been good. But a bad economy hasn't stopped O'Shea from driving a Mercedes SUV. And he didn't pay his bills during good times either. Invoices to O'Shea go back to 2001, and he has not made a single payment to the Boston Police Department.
The police department does not have a lot of weapons to collect the money. Under city policy, they cannot sue delinquent businesses. So they send out bill after bill after bill piling on the interest -- something that companies like the Walsh and DRF corporations apparently ignore.
"They should take a look at whether these companies should be allowed to do business in the city," says Tyler.
Companies using police details are either doing private work or work for the City of Boston. If it is for the city, officials can deduct the outstanding details balance before paying for the job.
The mayor's office tells us that the city does have a collection rate of 92 percent on police details.
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