Flagger v. Cop

On April 17, 2008, Governor Deval Patrick signed St. 2008, c. 86, An Act Financing the Commonwealth’s Transportation System (“Act” or “Bond Bill”). Section 10 of the Bond Bill authorizes the Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works (“EOTPW”), in consultation with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (“EOPSS”), to promulgate regulations and guidelines on the use of police details at public works sites. This law, and the draconian analysis of it, should offend the intelligence of all Massachusetts taxpayers. It intends to lead one to believe that there is actual cost savings by utilizing civilian flaggers as opposed to well-trained men and women that protect Massachusetts communities.

The Cost Report & Analysis (“the Report”), completed by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works, uses data from four zones: Boston, Abington, Agawam and Adams. The EOTPW compares the hourly detail rates of police officers to the prevailing wage flagger rates for the four zones. The analysis is a bare-bone, ignorant declaration of potential cost savings, and stretches to support this impractical law.

Table 1
Projected Flagger Prevailing Wage Savings
Zone Effective Dates Flagger PW Rate Police PW Detail Rate Difference
Zone 1 Boston $34.85 $37.00 $2.15
Zone 2 Abington $33.45 $40.00 $6.55
Zone 3 Agawam $31.83 $42.40 $10.57
Zone 4 Adams $31.70 $32.00 $0.30
Prevailing wage rates are set by union collective bargaining rates in each area of the Commonwealth. The flagger rates are based on collective bargaining rates of Laborers. Initially, the rates of the flaggers do appear to be less costly than police officer detail rates, i.e. $34.85 flagger vs. $37.00 officer in Boston. See Table 1. With a cost savings of $2.15 per hour, the Commonwealth would save a significant amount of money by using flaggers. Many would still argue, including myself, that the additional $2.15 is worth having a law enforcement professional present. In these tough economic times, though, it is foreseeable for citizens to want that extra $2.15 an hour saved, even if it does mean trading off safety. If the argument were to end at the base hourly rate, I do not think there would be second-guessing of the new law. But sadly, the base rate is the complete depth of analysis in the Report, and it leaves much to be desired.

As stated, the prevailing wage rate is what must be paid to the worker. It is not the rate billed to the city or town. So, when a contractor decides to bid on a project, he must look at the cost for the worker ($34.85 hourly in Boston). But he must also add in other necessary costs, such as workers’ compensation insurance, unemployment insurance, the employer’s part of FICA and his profit. All of this is added on to the prevailing wage rate: it is not included. Performing a simple analysis of the added costs, it is apparent that the flagger rates are higher than officer detail rates. For instance, if the Boston rate is taken, and workers’ compensation is calculated at 15%, unemployment insurance is calculated at 6% and FICA is calculated at the standard 7.65%, the additional cost on top of the base rate for flagger is $9.99 per hour. See Table 2. Plus, the contractor is going to include a profit margin, and assuming it is 10%, an additional $4.48 would be added hourly. This computes to a $49.32 per hour cost to the taxpayer for a civilian flagger instead of a trained professional police officer. That is an additional cost of $12.32 per hour to the taxpayer, without the benefit of a police officer. See Table 3. Where is the cost savings? Where is the value?

Table 2
Actual Flagger Costs
Zone Effective Date On file Base Rate Workers Comp.* Unemployment Insurance* FICA* Actual Cost Profit* Cost to Taxpayer
Zone 1 Boston $34.85 $5.23 $2.09 $2.67 $44.84 $4.48 $49.32
Zone 2 Abing. $33.45 $5.02 $2.01 $2.56 $43.04 $4.30 $47.34
Zone 3 Agawam $31.83 $4.77 $1.91 $2.43 $40.94 $4.09 $45.04
Zone 4 Adams $31.70 $4.76 $1.90 $2.43 $40.79 $4.08 $44.86

Table 3
Actual Savings by Using Officers
Zone Effective Dates Flagger Actual Cost Police PW Detail Rate Savings
Zone 1 Boston $49.32 $37.00 $12.32
Zone 2 Abing. $47.34 $40.00 $7.34
Zone 3 Agawam $45.04 $42.40 $2.64
Zone 4 Adams $44.86 $32.00 $12.86


If the EOTPW analyzed this information on the whole, and had not extrapolated convenient figures, it would have reported that there is a substantial cost benefit to cities, towns, and especially the taxpayer by continuing to use police officers instead of civilian flaggers. Without getting into the public safety argument, there is irrefutable evidence that civilian flaggers will cost us more – much more.

The EOTPW Report states that there will be a cost savings, on average, of 13.01%. See Table 4. The savings, again, is false. There is no way that that cost savings could exist, unless companies cheat and cut corners.

Table 4
Base Road Flagger and Base Police Detail - Rate Comparison
Average police detail rate $38.43
Average road flagger rate $33.09
Average percent savings 13.01%

If the Report was done properly, and there was an attempt to display the truth, it would show that civilian flaggers are costly – not just in the taxpayers’ pockets, but to their safety as well. See Table 5.

Table 5
ACTUAL Average Flagger and Police Detail - Rate Comparison
Average police detail rate $38.43
Average road flagger rate $46.64
Average percent savings -21.36%

We can even look at a bid that has been awarded for road work in the town of Essex, MA. Essex advertised the bid with the estimated cost of a flagger at $40.00 per hour. The rate for a detail officer in Essex is $43.00 per hour. One bid was submitted with a rate for flagger of $20.00 per hour, which is significantly lower than the prevailing wage rate. In essence, the company is bidding at a rate that is illegal because it is below the flagger prevailing wage rate. Even with that bid included, the average bid per hour for a flagger was $47.50. If the absurd bid was removed from the calculation, the average bid for a flagger would have been $51.43: $8.43 higher than the detail rate for a trained officer. Other than the illegitimate bid, the next low bid was $45.49 per hour. That is still $2.49 higher than an actual police officer would cost. It is not practical to have these flaggers on the roads in Massachusetts, and the costs are compounded with the loss of public safety. The EOTPW has done the taxpayers an injustice by attempting to support this reckless law. An unbiased, conservative analysis demonstrates that well-trained police officers on details not only save lives, but money as well for the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.