D.C. Police Union: Chief Can't Call For "All Hands On Deck" This Weekend

It's "All Hands on Deck" this weekend for D.C. police, whether officers like it or not.

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier says the crime-fighting tool, in which the city floods the streets with MPD officers, will go forward this weekend despite a ruling Aug. 5 from the Public Employee Relations Board.

A mediator ruled Friday to uphold an earlier decision stating that the police department did not have the authority in 2009 to change the officers' schedules for "All Hands" without first bargaining with the union. The ruling also states the officers should be compensated for the overtime.

Lanier says the ruling only applies to a handful of "All Hands on Deck" events in 2009.

But Kristopher Baumann, head of the D.C. police union, says that isn't the case.

According to Baumann, all of the "All Hands on Deck" deployments over the past few years violated the officers' contract and he says the city will be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in back pay.

"All of the money the department and the District are going to have to pay -- we could've increased our police force to do "All Hands on Deck" every single day," says Baumann.

Lanier says she is consulting with the Office of the Attorney General to determine whether the department will appeal the labor board's decision.