“I get every detail and fully comprehend the angst and frustration Puerto Rico police officials are confronting. However, honoring oath is paramount…Blue flu equates to leaving tax payers alone on an island, a largely dark one, where many people are drowning in despair.”
Several months after Hurricane Maria raked the tropical terrain of Puerto Rico and obliterated the island’s power supply, electric grid restoration is still significantly behind…and Puerto Rico police officers are fed up with working for delayed compensation. The force of roughly 13,000 cops maintaining order on the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has seen drastic call-outs, to the tune of approximately 2,700 absences daily.
Why? Millions of dollars in overtime have not been paid while Puerto Rico police officers continued working long hours through consecutive days as their own problems await redress.
“We have had an inordinate amount of absences that we haven’t seen in years prior,” Puerto Rico police Chief Michelle Hernandez shared with the Associated Press. And that is why she suggested enlisting public safety coverage from the US National Guard.
Black-outs were a foreseeable possibility in Puerto Rico life while the blue flu is a definite no-no.
Public Affairs Secretary Ramon Rosario stated the government has already made nearly $15 million in overtime payments since Hurricane Maria hit more than three months ago and $6.4 million more will be distributed December 31, 2017.
“There are a lot of police officers who are not showing up,” Rosario admitted. “We are trying to address all demands to encourage these police officers to return to their jobs.” Conceding a multi-billion dollar aid package from the United States government, all overtime pay due Puerto Rico’s police force is paid via Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Rosario claims the federal government process is slow and encourages the island’s police personnel to report for duty while remaining patient with regard to compensation.
Police officers worked seven days a week for 12 to 15 hours a day in September and October, said lobbying groups for the island’s police officers, who are not allowed to unionize.
Police Chief Hernandez “estimated the government owes officers an additional $35 million in overtime pay, but said the department is still tallying attendance sheets to determine the exact amount,” the AP reported. “Tallying” done by the police chief while a state-level elected official is promising payments by the end of 2017 (this weekend) seems a bit contradictory. It is no stretch to conceive the frustrations of Puerto Rico’s cops. But I am no proponent of the blue flu tactic.
“The question is quite clear: Do they have the money to pay police officers?” said Carlos Morales, president of an association that represents more than 8,000 officers. “That’s the biggest battle we face to help solve the problem.”
“The question is quite clear: Do they have the money to pay police officers?”
Since FEMA is the guarantor in doling out funds to revitalize Puerto Rico, the money is there. US Congress and President Trump assured a handsome hurricane-aid package. It sounds like delivery may be slowed for whatever reason(s). Nevertheless, PR cops will be compensated.
“Police officers can’t take it anymore,” Morales said. “They have their problems. They’ve lost their homes. They’ve lost a lot of things, and on top of it, they have to keep working.” There is no question regarding Puerto Rico police bleeding their knuckles to reestablish their jurisdictions. Nature didn’t afford much of a chance, but a walkout is not the answer. Frankly, now that the blue flu made national news, recompense won’t be too far behind.
It is not only about back-pay though. There is also an historical undercurrent regarding the blue flu in Puerto Rico.
Chief Hernandez suggested her police officers are upset about other changes amid Puerto Rico’s economic crisis, including smaller pensions and an end of payments for unused sick days. “They feel in a way cheated in the past 15 years in terms of benefits,” Hernandez said.
I get every detail and fully comprehend the angst and frustration Puerto Rico police officials are confronting. However, honoring oath is paramount, especially given the hurricane-ravaged circumstances with which the island’s 3.5 million citizens are encumbered. No constituent ought to pay the price for preexisting problems rife with mismanagement and/or poor decisions by elected officials. Blue flu equates to leaving tax payers alone on an island, a largely dark one, where many people are drowning in despair.
It was reported often how expensive it is to reside in Puerto Rico…and that citizens already pay significant taxes for an outmoded infrastructure. That same dinosaur of a power utility company was tested by Hurricane Maria and walloped, miserably. That outcome was foreseeable for decades, yet nothing was done.
The same reasoning applies to the so-called aged drawbacks the police force has been contending, the ones Chief Hernandez mentioned. 15 years is a long span of time; one would think one and one-half decades is more than sufficient to find resolution.
Indeed, police officers have mouths to feed, mortgages to pay, and car notes to heed. Yet, massive blue flu actions do nothing more than tarnish the badge and disavow the oath upon which it is pinned…leaving folks to fend for themselves.
As a thoroughly experienced cohort of mine replied simply and concisely to the blue flu in Puerto Rico: “Mission first.” Just like the military mindset and its disciplined diligence. Another colleague said, “I can sympathize…but there is only one true course of action to take.”
Citizen-Soldiers of the Puerto Rico National Guard 92nd Military Police Brigade get ready to depart to their daily mission from their assembly area in Fort Buchanan, Guaynabo, Sept. 28, 2017. (Credit: Facebook/Puerto Rico National Guard)
Puerto Rico happens to have a few National Guard military police brigades encamped on the island.
“These Citizen-Soldiers will bring protection and much needed peace of mind to the people of the island while protecting hospitals and fuel assets on a daily basis for as long as they are needed,” posted the Puerto Rico National Guard a few months ago, right after Hurricane Maria struck. Somewhere along the way, the troops must’ve been scaled-back which, given the reportedly dire Puerto Rico police circumstances, may have been premature deescalation.
Indeed, police officers have mouths to feed, mortgages to pay, and car notes to heed. Yet, massive blue flu actions do nothing more than tarnish the badge and disavow the oath upon which it is pinned…leaving folks to fend for themselves.
On September 30, 2017 Defense.gov reported that Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello declared “the commonwealth and federal team combating Hurricane Maria’s devastation is working smoothly and every resource he has asked for is either on the island or on the way.”
On the drifts right after Hurricane Maria swept through, police officers from all across America and Canada arrived to provide law enforcement. In the material I read regarding the disconcerting number of Puerto Rico police absences, nothing was stated as to all the assistance provided. Was that not sufficient to allow PR cops to have time off? Moreover, many stateside law enforcement officers are still there, aiding with law-and-order and securing sensitive sites.
In light of the blue flu, however, Governor Rossello has declined to bring in the National Guard.
As with any jurisdiction whose police force is experiencing staff shortages for whatever reasons, public safety concerns reach astronomical proportions. On October 28, 2017 a Facebook contributor called Redhawk visited Puerto Rico. His rather eerie description accompanied a dour illustration.
“Just landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. When I first landed, it seemed like much of the city was back on the grid. Once I made it into Old Town, very few shops have power. Those bars that are open are operating off of generators. There are police stationed pretty frequently through old town. Going to turn in soon, and hit the ground running tomorrow. Keep in mind this is a month since hurricane Marie touched down,” said Redhawk.
Naturally, we’d like to prefer that those headlights cutting through dark and powerless city streets are attached to Puerto Rico police cruisers. Conversely, without Puerto Rico police to patrol much of the de-electrified sections of the island…public safety concerns are warranted. It makes one wonder: If police personnel are not paid in timely fashion, where are the high-tax dollars going?
Island Entanglements
The downed power grid has far-reaching consequences besides public safety. Did you know that the granddaddy of IV saline bag manufacturing, Baxter International, has several facilities in Puerto Rico? Without power to continue 24/7 operations, a dwindled supply of small IV bags has impacted hospitals and health organizations across the United States. Delayed restoration of power equates to fewer IV bags for patients.
A medical doctor practicing in Central Florida informs me she and the clinics where she consults patients are already feeling the pinch stemming from the underproduction of IV bags. Specifically, “infusions were cut-back,” she said. The reason she and other health practitioners were provided for the shortage was Baxter International’s diminished capacity due to hurricane-caused power outage.
Not only IV saline bags, but also medicine drip bags and bottles’ production were reduced in exports, all due to a powerless Big Pharma operating on generators.
“The hurricane wiped out the island’s electrical grid, shutting down Baxter’s three Puerto Rico factories for several days. The Deerfield-based company is still ramping up production by using generators,” Crain’s Business reported.
Baxter International technician processing IV saline and medicine drip bags/bottles for patients across the United States, a task that cannot be performed without a functioning electrical grid. (Credit: Facebook/Baxter International Inc.)
As our nation’s overseer and industry regulator, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stepped in to mitigate the shortage and to ensure Baxter’s manufacturing sites are back online as best possible. The FDA endorsed imports of Baxter International’s saline-filled “Mini-Bags” from the corporation’s manufacturing outfits based in Ireland and Australia. Per a report by PlasticsToday.com, Baxter’s plants in Mexico and Canada are also being enlisted to fill the void left by its hobbled Puerto Rico facilities.
“The FDA said it’s worried there could be shortages of about 40 critical medicines because of the disruptions caused by the hurricane at the dozens of drug and device factories in Puerto Rico,” the Associated Press reported in October 2017.
Despite Hurricane Maria being a direct catalyst for Puerto Rico’s hampered exports, namely IV saline bags, it seems prior inventory deficiencies were an issue well before hurricane season came sweeping in.
According to an April 2017 Chicago Tribune report, federal agents subpoena’d a Baxter International employee to query the company “as part of a criminal investigation related to a nationwide shortage of intravenous saline solution.” As the Plastics Today report outlined, there seemed some funny business going on with the price of resins used to manufacture the plastics in which health-related fluids are contained. If true, a preexisting shortage was ostensibly exacerbated by Mother Nature wiping out Puerto Rico’s electric system.
That means we knew of PR’s severely under-producing power grid which electrified a dubiously under-generating IV bag corporation which landed under the lens of the federal government, namely the FDA and DoJ.
“Baxter has remained a continuous supplier of IV solutions and has made extraordinary efforts to maximize the availability of these critical products, including investments to both improve manufacturing capacity and increase supply to ensure patients can receive the therapies they need,” Baxter International released in a written statement.
Although that was Baxter’s suggestion subsequent to the Department of Justice’s federal court-issued subpoena, the company is also named in a lawsuit alleging potential monopolizing as well as price-gouging hospitals by increasing the price of IV bags.
The Chicago Tribune conveyed, “Baxter also is facing a class-action lawsuit, along with Hospira, alleging they conspired to hold down the supply of intravenous saline solution and fix or raise prices of the product. Baxter and Hospira, which is a Pfizer company, control about 90 percent of the $1.2 billion a year IV saline solution market in the U.S., according to the lawsuit, which was filed by hospitals in New York and Pennsylvania, among others.”
“Baxter also is facing a class-action lawsuit, along with Hospira, alleging they conspired to hold down the supply of intravenous saline solution and fix or raise prices of the product.”
$1.2 billion in IV bags’ sales per year between Baxter International and another company must translate to significant tax revenue for Puerto Rico. Or are high concessions for Big Pharma why PR’s cops are seemingly low on the rungs?
The IV bag shortage predated Hurricane Maria’s pummel of Puerto Rico, as mentioned and confirmed by federal investigators looking into reasons for diminished supplies. And that again draws scrutiny and skepticism of the antiquated power grid Puerto Rico governance knew about for decades.
Besides short-stocked IV bags and medicine drips, what does Puerto Rico’s ongoing entanglements have to do with the Puerto Rico police force? Human nature. Desperate times call for desperate measures…and people sometimes go off the law-and-order game-board, requiring a robust cadre of law enforcers to respond diligently.
Black-outs were a foreseeable possibility in Puerto Rico life while the blue flu is a definite no-no.
While the FDA seeks to remedy the IV shortages and assuredly monitors the transactional flow and pricing of its IV bag and medicine drip lines, FEMA is in control of the federal purse strings financing the hurricane-riddled Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. That means the overtime pay due PR’s cops is already earmarked by American taxpayers.
And as far as taxpayers go, Puerto Rico Senator Axel Roque (New Progressive, generally the Puerto Rican version of the Republican Party) coined exactly my sentiments, saying, “Citizens are paying taxes and expect that the government fulfill its obligations to guarantee their security.”
An irony in all of this is that, as Puerto Rico police Sgt. Felix Rosario mentioned to Associated Press reporters, “We’re facing limitations” involving not enough cops reporting for duty to take amassing police complaints regarding “stolen generators.”
That doesn’t bode well, especially since The Hill reported yesterday: “Almost half of the electricity customers in Puerto Rico lack power, according to officials on the island, 100 days after Hurricane Maria hit the island,” making it paramount that police report for duty.
