Fraternal Order of Police

Akron Lodge #7

The Fraternal Order of Police was founded in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , in 1916. At the time, working conditions were terrible for police officers. Pay was very low, seventy hour work weeks were common, vacations were non-existent and even days off were very infrequent.

The First order of business for the Fraternal Order of Police was to try to improve police working conditions. Fortunately, efforts by the membership paid off and many progressive changes began to take place in the Pittsburgh Police Department. Police officers banding together as a group, working for a common cause, was enough to impress the Pittsburgh city fathers that change was necessary and improvements followed.

After the success of the Pittsburgh Fraternal Order of Police, the order began to expand across the country and on February 2, 1935, Akron Lodge #7 was formed. At the time, the Akron Police Department had a very successful baseball team and the team members became the founders of Lodge #7. When the lodge was founded, it was intended to be a social organization and it functioned as such for a number of years. It was not until 1966 that the order became the organization it is today.

The first president of the Akron lodge was George Boston, a police sergeant, who went on to become active in the national lodge. The national lodge continued to grow through the 1930s and Akron was an important part of that growth. The national convention was held in Akron in 1938 and George Boston served as a national officer.

At the local level, in many of the years during the 1940s and 50s, Akron Lodge #7 appointed a committee to discuss wages and benefits with the mayor and council. The members did not negotiate that was not an option at the time, but they did the best they could to convince the mayor and the council to deal with the needs of the members of the Akron Police Department.

If you did not live it, it is difficult to comprehend the working conditions, pay and benefits of and Akron police officers just forty years ago. Before 1955 a uniform police officer worked a forty-four hour work week, rotated around the clock on a monthly basis, and had absolutely no choice about his assignment. Hospitalization was optional, but if desired, an officer could have twelve dollars a month deducted from his pay to purchase family coverage. (In 1954 a four year police officer was paid $350.90 a month). The only equipment furnished by the police department was a whistle, nightstick, badge, and cap shield, batteries, and in some cases, a few rounds of ammunition. Editors note: The writer of this article became a police officer in 1954 and was offered, on the day he was hired, a black hard rubber whistle with the end already chewed off, a thirty-six inch Civil Defense nightstick with a leather strap, green with mold, and twelve bullets so corroded they would not fit into a revolver. All were refused. Everything else, including uniforms, was bought and paid for by the police officer. After twenty-five years, at age fifty-two, an officer was entitled to a pension based on fifty percent of the average of his last five years wages. Sick time was a benefit and was earned at the rate of fifteen days each year. It could be built up to a maximum of ninety days time which if not used, had no monetary value at retirement or separation from the department.

From the latter part of the 1950s through 1962 a few raises were granted and hospitalization was provided. Not much else happened until 1965. There were no raises granted in 1963, 64, and 65.  During those years a drastically undermanned police department suffered the loss of many of its personnel. (Police strength in 1962 was 282).  Morale was very low and many police officers left for better paying jobs with other police departments and in local business.

Things began to change for the bettering 1965 with several factors contributing to the changes. The mayor appointed a “Blue Ribbon Committee” to study city employee salaries and to determine the best way to keep them competitive with those paid by business and industry. The committee submitted a plan which recommended that the city adopt an “escalator” type pay schedule. Based on a number of factors, including wages paid in designated local industries and business, it was supposed to solve the problem of the great disparity between city wages and those paid by private business and industry. The plan was converted to an ordinance and in 1965 Akron City Council passed Ordinance 1060-1965, the “escalator”. In 1966, before serious negotiations began, the “escalator” gave police officers a raise of $312 a year.

The Fraternal Order of Police continued to grow and to gain political power. One lodge, Dayton , Ohio , was very successful in gaining better wages, working conditions and benefits through negotiations with their city and by going to the voters for help. Akron Lodge #7 held a number of meetings with the Dayton lodge and even had several members from their negotiating committee come to Akron and speak to members of Lodge #7. The result of all this activity was the formation of the first full scale Akron Lodge #7 negotiation committee. Finally, at the same time and of great importance, Mayor John Ballard agreed to sit down and negotiate with the committee from Akron Lodge #7. Before becoming mayor, he had been Summit County Prosecutor, an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and an officer in the military. Mayor Ballard knew the police, knew their problems from working with them, and was willing to try to resolve them. These first meetings set the stage for everything that has happened since.

In 1967 the City of Akron and Lodge #7’s negotiation committee entered into extended negotiations that eventually resulted in substantial increases in wages and benefits, but not nearly enough to make up for the past. An agreement was reached, however, that the Fraternal Order of Police would actively support an issue that would raise taxes in 1968 to provide money for additional police wages and benefits. The issue passed and negotiations resulted in higher wages and better benefits but still not to the level expected or needed.

After negotiations failed to produce a satisfactory settlement, the Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge #7, joined but the Akron firefighters, went to the voters of Akron in 1968 with a charter amendment. If approved, it would establish an initial salary level effective in 1969, pay levels between ranks and raises each year based upon the “escalator” and/or negotiations. Included in the amendment was a provision that the City of Akron hire forty additional police officers each year until the strength of the police department reached five hundred and twenty-two officers. The issue was approved by the voters and went far toward bringing order to labor negotiations with the City of Akron . The city, abiding by the charter amendment, hired forty additional officers each year until 1971 when the required number was reached.

Negotiations with the City of Akron have continued since the passage of the charter amendment until this time and will continue in the future as long as the charter amendment remains in effect. Many goals have been reached through the years and Akron police officers enjoy a number of benefits as a result. The police officer of forty years ago would never have dreamed that most of what has been achieved could have been.

Akron Lodge #7 has also been active in other areas. Some actions taken have benefited the membership while others have been undertaken to help the community and those less fortunate.

In 1967, the lodge purchased a ninety-three acre farm just east of Akron with the thought in mind of turning it into a campground and recreational area. For many reasons, the farm was never developed so it was finally sold at a very nice profit. Proceeds from the farm provided a great deal of the money used to build the present lodge, recreational facilities and campgrounds at the Ley Drive Park on Akron ’s south side.

A full-time president now serves the membership and an office in the police department keeps him close to the members. A full-time benefits officer, an active police officer chosen by Lodge #7, also has an office in the police department and is available to help an police officer, surviving spouse, depended or retiree with their benefits. College scholarships, administered by the lodge, are available to member’s dependent children or grandchildren, and many other lodge activities directed at helping the membership or improving the job are carried out.

Akron Lodge #7 is also active in the community. The list of activities is long but does include such things as working with and sponsoring cars in the All American Soap Box Derby, sponsoring and working at the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon, sponsorship of a handicap cowling league for both young people and adults, raising funds for, and working at, the Special Olympics Torch Run from Akron to Columbus, Ohio, and involvement in two activities that support the Akron Zoo; the Snow Bowl and bowling fund raiser, and the annual Christmas lights program.

For many years the lodge has supported the Summit County Victim Assistance Program, a program that helps the victims of violent crime, by direct donations and by conducting fund raisers for its benefits.

In 1995, Akron Lodge #7 joined with the Target Stores to build a home in the Habitat for Humanity Program. Target provided the funds to build the home and the lodge provided the labor to build a house on the east side of Akron .

Through the years, Akron Lodge #7 has had a great deal of community support, on more than once occasion, at the ballot box in support for police issues. But no one has supported the lodge more than the other two organizations that are a part of Akron Lodge #7.

The Fraternal Order of Police Ladies Auxiliary Lodge #1 (“Ladies” has recently been dropped from the name) has always been ready to help when called upon. Many times the members of the auxiliary have stood at plant gates or walked neighborhood streets to talk to voters into supporting police issues at the polls. They have also spent countless hours working on mailings to gain community support for police issues. They have been involved in many of the social functions of Lodge #7 and have worked at many Fraternal Order of Police conventions and other meetings. In short, members of the auxiliary have been there when needed and are a viable part of the organizations.

The second organization is the Fraternal Order of Police Associate Lodge #6. The members of this group are drawn from the community. They support Lodge #7 with both funds and times when called upon and have contributed to the building of the Ley Drive facility. Seldom does any lodge #7 activity take place without the willing and able support of the members of Associate Lodge #6.

Finally, from the day it was founded, the Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge #7 has been a part of almost every Akron Police officer’s life. The lodge has provided fellowship and support to all members and their families and, in the last thirty years, has acted on behalf of all Akron officers in labor negotiations. The membership of the lodge has continued to increase as the police department has grown and each member’s pay, benefits, and working conditions have improved steadily over the years.

The end is not in sight. The lodge continues to represent the working police officer, to further improve wages and working conditions, and to prevent any inroads into past gains; while on the fraternal side, the lodge continues to expand in the areas of community involvement, fellowship, and compassion for the less fortunate. The Fraternal Order of Police was founded to help and will always continue to follow that path.