Flames of Discontent

Houston’s head arson investigator, Roy Paul, feels burned. Somewhere between the definition of cop and firefighter is his arson investigation unit. Members of that group say they were burned because when the new contracts for both departments were conceived, they were left out of the process. They pack heat, interview witnesses, make arrests and, according to an innovative lawsuit filed by the squad, don’t get paid enough.

While gripes over wages are common, the arson investigators’ suit could conceivably have a major impact on city salaries. Houston’s first-ever police “meet and confer” labor agreement, a $28 million pay-raise package for police and firefighters, could go up in flames as a result.

Arson investigators recently filed their suit against the Houston Police Officers’ Union, which negotiated the contract, and the city. They want a state district court to overturn the “meet and confer” terms which were negotiated late last year. The suit also seeks a more likely alternative: to have the full benefits of the agreement extended to arson investigators.

Paul and his band complain that they don’t get the job perks of similar city employees. The fire department recognizes them as an arm of that department. They are dispatched to probe multiple-alarm fires and fire deaths. However, the last time firefighters negotiated their contracts, in 1997, investigators got none of the incentive pay perks that were granted to other fire units.

Steve Williams, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, which negotiates for the department, says such contract complaints are not uncommon. He has received them from other units.

Meanwhile, the police department does not consider arson part of its mix. But Paul says the 60-person arson squad performs the duties of law enforcement officers. Sections of local government code contain lines confirming that arson investigators are indeed cops. But police contract negotiators refused the request from the arson unit to be represented in the most recent police negotiations.

Paul, who makes $68,000 a year, would be satisfied with firefighter or cop monetary perks incentive pay as college graduates, paramedics, peace officers or hazardous material specialists but his crew gets neither. He estimates that the sought-after incentives would increase an investigator’s salary by about $5,000 to $10,000 yearly. Paul says most officers in his unit make around $50,000 a year. With the city policy of parity for police and firefighters, that is about what police in similar positions are paid.

After being snubbed during fire department contract talks, the arson bureau asked to be included in the police department’s “meet and confer” negotiations. This process, compared to moderate collective bargaining, was approved by the Legislature for Houston police for the first time in 1997. City Council last month approved the results: an 18 percent raise over three years for police and firefighters, totaling about $28 million. It did not include the extras sought by arson.

Paul, 50, the blithe spirit who has served as chief investigator since 1993, isn’t shy about how he perceives his men are being treated. “I think it’s really bullshit that we have to go through this kind of deal. I’m really disgruntled about this.” Paul says his crew is being blatantly overlooked. “You don’t take your highest-skilled employees and pay them the least.”

One particularly “sore spot” among the arson investigators, Paul says, is the absence of gun funds. They are required to carry a piece but get no money to buy firearms. Not so for cops. However, Paul says, it is an anomaly when arson investigators are prompted to use their guns.

Paul argues that his unit handles “more felony investigations than any other law agency in the city with less members.” He says they probe 2,000 fires annually, while Houston police investigate about 250 homicides yearly.

“I haven’t fought fires for 20 years,” explains Paul, comparing his unit to HPD homicide. He points out that his officers are considered cops when they file charges at the district attorney’s office.

Paul cites the government code reference to his personnel as peace officers.

Robert Armbruster, general counsel for HPOU’s legal office, uses the same code to refute Paul. Armbruster, in a letter to plaintiffs’ attorney Paul Aman, writes that “[w]hile arson investigators are peace officers, they are not identified in the law as police officers.”

And fire department spokesperson Lil Harris says flatly that “arson investigators are firefighters.” Arson investigators in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, tony little Bellaire and most everywhere else are part of the fire department.

Jim Lyde, executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association, which is providing the attorneys for the arson investigators, says the special “meet and confer” legislation is unique because of its wording. It allows Houston arson investigators police salary benefits, while similar units in other cities could not make the same argument, Lyde says.

Paul says the salary inequities are prompting his employees to jump ship for other agencies with better pay.

“As an administrator, I usually don’t get involved” in union and contract tiffs, explains Paul. But he saw the impact it was having on his men; not so much the lack of benefits, he says, but being slighted. “This lawsuit is best for everyone involved. We’ll just go to court.”