It's been a bad week for police officers.
Earlier in the week there was the still lingering anxiety about their allowances from GOB being cut off. And now added to that, Novelo's bus Line, which is bankrupt and under new management, is threatening that starting next month, they will no longer allow police officers to ride free.
There are two very different sides to this story and first we go to the police who say it is disrespectful and unfair to these men and women who put their lives on the line everyday. Police Press Officer G. Michael Reid is leading the rallying cry, saying police perform a community service and it is unthinkable for Novelo's to start charging them.
G. Michael Reid, Police Press Officer
"We believe it's an unfortunate decision made by the managers of Novelo's Bus Service. We believe that when a police officer rides any mode of public transport; he is providing some degree of security to all the patrons and not only the patrons but also indeed the workers and employees of said group. This applies especially to buses where conductors carry money and then of course there are the passengers on there that need protection."
"Of the thousand or so officers that we have, less than 5% commute on a regular basis so I just can't follow the rationale. I just don't see any substantial saving to the bus company. Many of these officers will now just wait on the street side and catch some transport. Police officers as you know aren't paid a large sum of money for salary. Certainly this will cut deeper into their expenses."
"We believe in such a case then that since the police officers are always on duty, make a consideration or allowance so they can get from point A to point B."
But then is there is the flip side. We spoke to Novelo's general manager Bob Garcia who said that two weeks ago they offered an across the board 10% discount to all police officers who ride the bus whether they were in uniform or not and on or off duty. The letter which he provided to 7NEWS also proposed to allow uniformed officers to ride free as long as they were on official business and the ride was approved by the police department through a government order. The police department would then be billed directly.
Novelo's Bus says the police department out rightly rejected the proposal and demanded free service. Novelo's also allege in their release that the police department threatened to use the media to put pressure on the bus company, forcing them to continue with the free rides.