Modernized Scheduling to Revamp Police Details at Boston Construction Sites

Assigned by pen and paper. That's how Boston police officers get scheduled at construction sites around the city for extra work details. A new modernized scheduling system, though, will soon create a more streamlined approach.

The City of Boston has contracted with Extra Duty Solutions, a Connecticut firm, to upgrade the scheduling of these detail shifts for the Boston Fire Department and Boston Police Department.

"I am honestly just excited about being able to do more of our public works jobs with police detail coverage," said Julia Campbell, Boston's deputy chief of streets, in a statement shared with NBC10 News Boston. "Without coverage, it's difficult for us to schedule jobs, difficult for us to do work in some of the busiest parts of the city."

In addition to the scheduling modernization, Boston is also making some of these construction details available to civilians under a new priority system. This system will give Boston police officers the first opportunity to be selected, followed by other local police officers and then civilians.

The City of Boston is working with former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis and his company, The Edward Davis Company, to operate a civilian flagger program.

According to an NBC10 News report, Boston has experienced difficulties assigning all the work details. Thousands upon thousands of these work details go unassigned each year, leading to delays, In one instance, a crosswalk in Brighton took more than a year to paint because the city could not fulfill the work detail request.

"We're really hopeful that this is going to allow us to do more work," Campbell added. "It is more than an extra set of eyes. Having the details out there means we can close streets. We can have active traffic control."

Boston hopes to have its scheduling and priority work detail systems operating within the next several months.