Mass. City Gives Cops Holiday Pay On 9/11

For police in a Boston suburb, Sept. 11 is now a holiday.

A new four-year contract between the North Shore city of Peabody (pop. 48,129) and its police union makes the anniversary of the terrorist attacks a paid holiday, with officers receiving time and a quarter for working on the day.

The provision is the first of its kind in Massachusetts, and for most of the nation as well.

The New York City police department (which lost 23 officers on 9/11) does not recognize Sept. 11 as a paid holiday, and representatives of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers and the International Union of Police Associations told The Salem News they were unaware of any locals that had negotiated similar provisions.

Manny Costa, president of the Peabody Police Benevolent Association, told The Boston Herald that the contract provision was not about money, but respect.

"Every year we memorialize the losses of all the brother officers and firemen. That was the reason for it," he said.

Derry, N.H., has similar provision for officers, according to the Herald.

The Peabody contract, which gives officers a 13 percent pay hike over four years, also allows random drug testing and makes concessions on health care.