T Police Changing Name ??

I work in public safety' Boston Fire Dept' can any one give me a strait answer why after 30 + years later doet the MBTA police change their name and loot to TRANSIT POLICE? This change is costing us $$$ for painting of their cars and wagons etc and each officers uniforms.that run approx $275. per officer: Spring jacket $150, Uniform Pants $80, and Uniform Shirt Short Sleev $45. Thanks

Hold your horses. It's not a vast waste of money by the TPD, it's far from it.

The following comes straight from the horse's mouth and is about as good of an expert on the T as you will ever find:

It's a scheduled replacement of old equiptment and uniforms. It's not done all at once, it's phased in over a period of time. That's why some officers have "transit police" while others have "MBTA Police". And the uniforms are purchased new every two years, considering how much milage you get out of a damn shirt I wouldn't complain. You probably buy new cloths every few months and you get them for the same reason the TPD is buying new uniforms: you have to.

And about the "repainting": it's not repainting- it's decals. Take a close look at them next time you are near a cruiser and you see it's decals. The only real paint on the vehicles is white tops and bottoms with a long blue stripe. And it's no surprise that many of the surrounding communities have police cruisers very similarly painted as the TPD cruisers- they come from the same stock and probably tag onto orders to lower the costs for each other.

And the T is doing what everyone has to do: buy new vehicles to replace old ones that are on their last legs. The T's district is a huge place and the T's jurisdiction is second only to the State Police in terms of size, those cruisers cover alot of territory in their short life spans and have to put up with crap that would make most other cars die alot earlier.

Efin Im at the Everett shops almost dails yes the T PD did get 2004 equipment cars and wagons. But the paint shop at Everett is repainting most the equipment white and blue striping Transit Police,after removing the old Air Force style markings. Alos I spoke with my friend at Doughboy Uniform in Dorchesterand she related to me it was a bulk order for the T PD'S new uniforms the whole dept all at once. It cost a pretty psnny to uniform in bulk all at once approx $2500 per officer was allotted for uniforms and equipment. Usualy the get that every 2 years individualy when their tikme to renew is up. This time it was given all at once.

It is more than just a name change, they are trying to reorient the organization with a more cohesive and distinct mission. The T Police have been plagued for some time with low morale and high turnover. To a visitor (of which Boston has many) MBTA meant nothing whereas Transit Police clearly differentiates them from the myriad of other law enforcement agencies present in the area.

I've been wondering about this myself for some time. I first noticed the new "Transit Police" moniker right before the DNC.

I noticed it around that time too - at first I thought they were a division of the Boston PD, until I saw T badges on the officers' unforms. I think the change is a good move on the MBTA PD's part.

StevieC48 wrote:Efin Im at the Everett shops almost dails yes the T PD did get 2004 equipment cars and wagons. But the paint shop at Everett is repainting most the equipment white and blue striping Transit Police,after removing the old Air Force style markings. Alos I spoke with my friend at Doughboy Uniform in Dorchesterand she related to me it was a bulk order for the T PD'S new uniforms the whole dept all at once.
It cost a pretty psnny to uniform in bulk all at once approx $2500 per officer was allotted for uniforms and equipment. Usualy the get that every 2 years individualy when their tikme to renew is up. This time it was given all at once.

OK they bought new cars, but that order was to replace older cars that are no longer usable in front line service. And big deal if the older cars were repainted, repainting the older cars costs very little money and probably gives the cars more time than if they were not repainted.

And I agree that it's expensive to buy all those new uniforms but they have to be replacne and if you actually compare the past to the present bulk order it's actually more expensive per uniform the old staggered way than the full bulk order. The more you buy, the less average per product the cost is.

And the costs to replace uniforms will not be there next year since the uniforms were replaced this year, so it's actually a minimal affect on the T's budget. Upfront this year, nothing next year. And if it actually saves money then I'm all for it. It has to be done, better to save a few bucks doing it.

Thanks never looked at it that way but you are right.