Quirico, J.
This is a suit in equity brought by Wilfred Paquette (chief) in his official capacity as the chief of police of the town of Dracut (town), against the town, its board of selectmen (selectmen) and the Dracut Police Relief Association, Inc. (association), to determine and declare certain rights of the chief and the selectmen respectively in the government and operation of the town’s police department.
The suit has arisen because the selectmen negotiated and executed a collective bargaining agreement (agreement) between the town and the association, the collective bargaining employee organization for the members of the police department. The chief alleges that the agreement contains provisions which go beyond the authority given to the selectmen by G. L. c. 149, §§ 178G-178N, inserted by St. 1965, c. 763, § 2, as amended through St. 1969, c. 341; and that it infringes upon his exclusive authority under G. L. c. 41, § 97A, as appearing in St. 1948, c. 595. The case is before us on the appeals of all the defendants from the final decree of the Superior Court substantially upholding the contentions of the chief and enjoining all of the defendants from acting under, enforcing or implementing certain provisions of the agreement.
The case was submitted to the trial judge for decision as a case stated. G. L. c. 231, § 126.
Stuart
v.
Sargent,
283 Mass. 536, 541.
Murphy
v.
Boston,
337 Mass. 560, 561. The facts agreed upon are those alleged by the plaintiff in bis bill and admitted by the defendants in their answers, plus certain other facts stated by counsel in open court and entered in the transcript of the hearing. The relevant facts thus agreed upon are set forth in the following paragraphs to the extent necessary for the purposes of this opinion.
On March 7, 1955, the town accepted G. L. c. 41, § 97A,
and thereafter operated its police department under the provisions of that law until the occurrence of the events hereinafter described. On May 31, 1967, the association informed the selectmen by letter that it had secured signatures from ninety-five per cent of the members of the town’s police department designating it as their exclusive bargaining agent, and it requested the selectmen to recognize the association as the exclusive collective bargaining agent for the members of the police department. The selectmen granted that request on July 27, 1967. On August 1, 1967, they wrote to the chief designating him as their representative for negotiations with the association. On the same date the chief sent the selectmen a letter stating that he would not serve as their representative for such negotiations, and he did not serve.
Thereafter the selectmen personally conducted negotiations with representatives of the association on the terms of a proposed collective bargaining agreement between the town and the association. On October 26, 1967, the town, acting through its selectmen, and the association, acting through its officers, signed a collective bargaining agreement incorporating the terms negotiated by them prior to October 16, 1967, and containing the provisions which the chief contends are invalid.
After the completion of the negotiations but before the execution of the agreement, a town meeting was held on October 16, 1967. At that meeting it was voted “that the Town rescind the provisions of Section 97A of Chapter 41, of the General Laws relative to the establishment of Police Departments in certain towns accepted under Article 47 of the Annual Town Meeting of March 7, 1955, and to accept in place thereof the provisions of Section 97 of Chapter 41 of the General Laws, which is an Act relative to the establishment of Police Departments in certain towns [¡quoting the text of this section].” The principal difference between the two sections is that, under § 97, “[¡t]he selectmen may make suitable regulations governing the police department and the officers thereof”; whereas under § 97A “£t]he chief
of police . . . shall from time to time make suitable regulations governing the police department, and the officers thereof, subject to the approval of the selectmen Hand in some circumstances without such approval].” The latter section also provides that the chief of police “shall be in immediate control of all town property used by the department, and of the police officers, whom he shall assign to their respective duties and who shall obey his orders.”
One basic question to be decided in this case is whether the action of the town meeting of October 16, 1967, operated as a rescission of its earlier acceptance of G. L. c. 41, § 97A, on March 7, 1955. Section 97A provides for its acceptance “by a vote at an annual town meeting,” but it contains no provision permitting a town to rescind its acceptance thereof. It has been the law that “[i]n the absence ... of some indication in the language, the form, or the subject matter of a particular statute enacted subject to local acceptance, that an acceptance once given may be revoked, the effect of a valid acceptance by a city or town is to make the statute operative in that community until the statute is repealed or amended. Once the condition precedent stipulated by the Legislature to the taking effect of the statute in the community is satisfied, it becomes applicable statute law, subject to change, as in the case of other statutes, only by subsequent action of the Legislature.”
Brucato
v.
Lawrence,
338 Mass. 612, 615-616. See
Donnelly
v.
Dover-Sherborn Regional Sch. Dist.
341 Mass. 497, 500, fn.;
Oleksak
v.
Westfield,
342 Mass. 50, 52-53;
McDonough
v.
Lowell,
350 Mass. 214, 216.
The town and its selectmen concede that if this is still the law then the town was without authority to rescind its prior acceptance of § 97A. They contend on appeal, however, that the material changes made in art. 2 of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth by art. 89 of the Amendments, commonly and herein referred to as the Home Rule Amendment, ratified on November 8, 1966, render this rule obsolete.
It is not clear that the effect of the Home Rule Amend
ment is open on the record before us. Although this case was entered more than one year after its ratification, there is no reference to it in any of the pleadings. Nor is there any reference to it in the trial judge’s decision. If this question is now open, we think it is without merit. Section 8 of the Home Rule Amendment expressly provides that “[tjhe general court shall have the power to act in relation to cities and towns, but only by general laws which apply alike to all cities, or to all towns, or to all cities and towns, or to a class of not fewer than two . . ..” The same limitation appears in § 6 of the Home Rule Amendment which provides in part that “Any city or town may, by the adoption, amendment, or repeal of local ordinances or by-laws, exercise any power or function which the general court has power to confer upon it,
which is not inconsistent with the
constitution or
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Quirico, J.
This is a suit in equity brought by Wilfred Paquette (chief) in his official capacity as the chief of police of the town of Dracut (town), against the town, its board of selectmen (selectmen) and the Dracut Police Relief Association, Inc. (association), to determine and declare certain rights of the chief and the selectmen respectively in the government and operation of the town’s police department.
The suit has arisen because the selectmen negotiated and executed a collective bargaining agreement (agreement) between the town and the association, the collective bargaining employee organization for the members of the police department. The chief alleges that the agreement contains provisions which go beyond the authority given to the selectmen by G. L. c. 149, §§ 178G-178N, inserted by St. 1965, c. 763, § 2, as amended through St. 1969, c. 341; and that it infringes upon his exclusive authority under G. L. c. 41, § 97A, as appearing in St. 1948, c. 595. The case is before us on the appeals of all the defendants from the final decree of the Superior Court substantially upholding the contentions of the chief and enjoining all of the defendants from acting under, enforcing or implementing certain provisions of the agreement.
The case was submitted to the trial judge for decision as a case stated. G. L. c. 231, § 126.
Stuart
v.
Sargent,
283 Mass. 536, 541.
Murphy
v.
Boston,
337 Mass. 560, 561. The facts agreed upon are those alleged by the plaintiff in bis bill and admitted by the defendants in their answers, plus certain other facts stated by counsel in open court and entered in the transcript of the hearing. The relevant facts thus agreed upon are set forth in the following paragraphs to the extent necessary for the purposes of this opinion.
On March 7, 1955, the town accepted G. L. c. 41, § 97A,
and thereafter operated its police department under the provisions of that law until the occurrence of the events hereinafter described. On May 31, 1967, the association informed the selectmen by letter that it had secured signatures from ninety-five per cent of the members of the town’s police department designating it as their exclusive bargaining agent, and it requested the selectmen to recognize the association as the exclusive collective bargaining agent for the members of the police department. The selectmen granted that request on July 27, 1967. On August 1, 1967, they wrote to the chief designating him as their representative for negotiations with the association. On the same date the chief sent the selectmen a letter stating that he would not serve as their representative for such negotiations, and he did not serve.
Thereafter the selectmen personally conducted negotiations with representatives of the association on the terms of a proposed collective bargaining agreement between the town and the association. On October 26, 1967, the town, acting through its selectmen, and the association, acting through its officers, signed a collective bargaining agreement incorporating the terms negotiated by them prior to October 16, 1967, and containing the provisions which the chief contends are invalid.
After the completion of the negotiations but before the execution of the agreement, a town meeting was held on October 16, 1967. At that meeting it was voted “that the Town rescind the provisions of Section 97A of Chapter 41, of the General Laws relative to the establishment of Police Departments in certain towns accepted under Article 47 of the Annual Town Meeting of March 7, 1955, and to accept in place thereof the provisions of Section 97 of Chapter 41 of the General Laws, which is an Act relative to the establishment of Police Departments in certain towns [¡quoting the text of this section].” The principal difference between the two sections is that, under § 97, “[¡t]he selectmen may make suitable regulations governing the police department and the officers thereof”; whereas under § 97A “£t]he chief
of police . . . shall from time to time make suitable regulations governing the police department, and the officers thereof, subject to the approval of the selectmen Hand in some circumstances without such approval].” The latter section also provides that the chief of police “shall be in immediate control of all town property used by the department, and of the police officers, whom he shall assign to their respective duties and who shall obey his orders.”
One basic question to be decided in this case is whether the action of the town meeting of October 16, 1967, operated as a rescission of its earlier acceptance of G. L. c. 41, § 97A, on March 7, 1955. Section 97A provides for its acceptance “by a vote at an annual town meeting,” but it contains no provision permitting a town to rescind its acceptance thereof. It has been the law that “[i]n the absence ... of some indication in the language, the form, or the subject matter of a particular statute enacted subject to local acceptance, that an acceptance once given may be revoked, the effect of a valid acceptance by a city or town is to make the statute operative in that community until the statute is repealed or amended. Once the condition precedent stipulated by the Legislature to the taking effect of the statute in the community is satisfied, it becomes applicable statute law, subject to change, as in the case of other statutes, only by subsequent action of the Legislature.”
Brucato
v.
Lawrence,
338 Mass. 612, 615-616. See
Donnelly
v.
Dover-Sherborn Regional Sch. Dist.
341 Mass. 497, 500, fn.;
Oleksak
v.
Westfield,
342 Mass. 50, 52-53;
McDonough
v.
Lowell,
350 Mass. 214, 216.
The town and its selectmen concede that if this is still the law then the town was without authority to rescind its prior acceptance of § 97A. They contend on appeal, however, that the material changes made in art. 2 of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth by art. 89 of the Amendments, commonly and herein referred to as the Home Rule Amendment, ratified on November 8, 1966, render this rule obsolete.
It is not clear that the effect of the Home Rule Amend
ment is open on the record before us. Although this case was entered more than one year after its ratification, there is no reference to it in any of the pleadings. Nor is there any reference to it in the trial judge’s decision. If this question is now open, we think it is without merit. Section 8 of the Home Rule Amendment expressly provides that “[tjhe general court shall have the power to act in relation to cities and towns, but only by general laws which apply alike to all cities, or to all towns, or to all cities and towns, or to a class of not fewer than two . . ..” The same limitation appears in § 6 of the Home Rule Amendment which provides in part that “Any city or town may, by the adoption, amendment, or repeal of local ordinances or by-laws, exercise any power or function which the general court has power to confer upon it,
which is not inconsistent with the
constitution or
laws enacted by the general court in conformity with powers reserved to the general court by section eight .
. .” (emphasis supplied). General Laws c. 43B, inserted by St. 1966, c. 734, § 1, and entitled the Home Rule Procedures Act, was enacted to implement the Home Rule Amendment. Section 13 of this act repeats substantially all the language of § 6 of the Home Rule Amendment, and in addition thereto it provides in part that “[n]othing in this section shall be construed to permit any city or town, by ordinance or by-law, to exercise any power or function which is inconsistent with any general law enacted by the general court before November eighth, nineteen hundred and sixty-six which applies alike to all cities, or to all towns, or to all cities and towns, or to a class of not fewer than two.”
General Laws c. 41, § 97A, is such a general law, and the fact that a town has the option whether or not to adopt it does not change its character. It therefore falls within the powers reserved to the General Court by the Home Rule Amendment and by the Home Rule Procedures Act. In enacting the Home Rule Procedures Act (G. L. c. 43B) the Legislature included no grant of authority to municipalities to rescind, by unilateral action, their prior acceptance of any provision of the General Laws. That omission may reflect
the Legislature’s concern that if municipalities had unbridled authority to rescind prior acceptance of basic provisions of the General Laws by unilateral action, there might result frequent and precipitous changes in the administration of municipal affairs which might produce chaos, all contrary to the public interest. Consequently, we hold that the Home Rule Amendment and the Home Rule Procedures Act do not render inoperative the rule laid down in
Brucato
v.
Lawrence, supra.
Thus, the vote of the town meeting on October 16, 1967, to rescind the town’s earlier acceptance of G. L. c. 41, § 97A, was a nullity. The operation of the town’s police department is therefore still governed by § 97A, and not by § 97. The trial judge’s similar conclusion, was correct.
Turning now to a consideration of the respective roles of the selectmen and the chief under § 97A, it is clear that both have some authority with respect to the police department. The selectmen establish the department, appoint “a chief of police and such other officers as they deem necessary, and fix their compensation.” The chief is authorized to “make suitable regulations governing the police department, and the officers thereof, subject to the approval of the selectmen” but his regulations become effective without approval if the selectmen do not act on them within thirty days after they are submitted to them. The chief is “in immediate control of all town property used by the department, and of the police officers, whom he shall assign to their respective duties and who shall obey his orders.” In contrast, under G. L. c. 149, §§ 178G-178N, the selectmen alone, acting as the “chief executive officer's]” of the municipal employer (§ 1781) are given authority to engage in collective bargaining negotiations with town employees, including members of the police department, with respect to
“wages, hours and other conditions of employment.” They alone are also given authority to “execute a written contract incorporating any agreement reached.” Section 1781 which expressly gives the selectmen such authority states that “[T]n the event that any part or provision of any such agreement is in conflict with any law, ordinance or by-law, such law, ordinance or by-law shall prevail so long as such conflict remains.”
“In meeting the problem of fitting . . . [G. L. c. 149, §§ 178G-178N3 into the statutes we are aided by various rules in the nature of axioms. Some meaning, if possible, must be given the later legislation. In its enactment the Legislature presumably knew the existing statute £G. L. c. 41, § 97A] .... All the statutes must be construed, where capable, so as to constitute a harmonious whole consistent with the legislative purpose disclosed in the new act. Such purpose is to be gleaned from the reasons, where ascertainable, leading to the legislation, from the nature of the subject matter, from the supposed evil to be corrected, and from the objective sought to be attained.”
Mathewson
v.
Contributory Retirement Appeal Bd.
335 Mass. 610, 614-615.
Bolster
v.
Commissioner of Corps. & Taxn.
319 Mass. 81, 84-85.
Milton
v.
Metropolitan Dist. Commn.
342 Mass. 222, 225.
Atlas Distrib. Co.
v.
Alcoholic Beverages Control Commn.
354 Mass. 408, 414.
The several statutes involved in this case do not compel a conclusion that the total authority over the town’s police department is vested in either the chief or in the board of selectmen. They give a measure of authority to each. The later statute on collective bargaining realistically recognizes in § 1781 that the selectmen's authority to negotiate and con
tract on the subject matter of “wages, hours and other conditions of employment ” in some instances may overlap or conflict with the authority of the chief under the earlier statute, § 97A, to make “suitable regulations governing the police department, and the officers thereof” and to assign police officers to their respective duties. That is why § 1781 says that if the agreement thus negotiated “is in conflict with any law, ordinance or by-law, such law, ordinance or by-law shall prevail.”
The chief contends that articles 4, 5, 7, 11 (par. 2 through end), 12 (pars. 2 and 3), 16, 17, 18 and 19, of the collective bargaining agreement are null and void because they violate or conflict with G. L. c. 41, § 97A, and his powers thereunder, or because they go beyond the scope of the selectmen’s authority which is limited to negotiating “with respect to wages, hours and other conditions of employment.” The trial judge found and ruled in favor of the chief as to all of the disputed articles of the agreement. Certain of the articles involve a common question, and we shall therefore consider them by groups rather than individually.
Most of the disputed articles require that the chief give exclusive consideration to the individual request, personal preference, seniority and rank of a police officer in determining assignment of duties, shifts, vacations and leaves of absence.
It is probably the practice for chiefs of police
to consider such personal factors in making such decisions, and to honor them if reasonable, practicable and consistent with the public interest and proper functioning of the police department. But, the fact that the chief, in his discretion, may consider these factors in making such decisions is very different from a contractual obligation that he be bound by such factors. Such a contractual obligation may not be uncommon in a collective bargaining agreement made by a private employer with his employees; but private employers
are not subject to § 97A or any other comparable limitations on the authority to assign and control their personnel.
The paramount concern of the chief in assigning his officers to their respective duties must be the interest and safety of the public, and, to some degree, the safety of the officers themselves, not the personal preference of each officer. In making assignments the chief must exercise his own discretion and judgment as to the number, qualifications and identity of officers needed for particular situations at any given time. He clearly has been given that authority by § 97A, and we cannot believe that the Legislature, in enacting provisions for collective bargaining by municipal employees, meant to take that authority away from the chief and permit the selectmen to bargain it away under the guise of negotiations on “wages, hours and other conditions of employment.” To deprive the chief of his authority to assign his officers to their respective duties and to substitute therefore the disputed provisions of the agreement would be totally subversive of the discipline and efficiency which is indispensable to a public law enforcement agency. Thus, we conclude that those articles of the agreement which impinge upon the power and authority of the chief to decide duty, vacation and leave assignments are null and void as to members of the police department.
What we have said above may not necessarily apply to agreements covering employees of other municipal departments.
Certain other provisions of the agreement are void because they conflict with specific sections of the General Laws. In such a situation it is provided by G. L. c. 149, § 1781, that the law shall prevail over the agreement.
(a) Article 17, par. 2, of the agreement provides for
“[t]he establishment of rules and regulations for all police officers of the Dracut Police Department, set up by the Chief and approved by the Board of Selectmen.” The authority of the chief to make rules is contained in G. L. c. 41, § 97A. By that statute the rules made by the chief may take effect under certain circumstances without the approval of the selectmen. The selectmen are without authority to change that by agreement with the association.
(b) Article 17, par. 4, provides for the ‘ ‘ Establishment of a proper uniform requirement, which is to include weapons.” This provision as to weapons is in direct conflict with G. L. c. 41, § 98, which provides that police officers “may carry within the commonwealth such weapons as the chief of police or the board or officer having control of the police in a city or town shall determine.” The chief is the “officer having control of the police” in Dracut by virtue of § 97A. Thus the provision of the agreement as to weapons conflicts with the statute, and the latter shall prevail.
There are several disputed provisions of the agreement which we hold are properly within the collective bargaining authority of the selectmen, subject to certain stated limitations.
(a) Article 5 requires the chief to “maintain a complete record of all overtime and sick leave accumulation,” and to make the records and information therefrom available to the association. The last paragraph of article 11 requires that “[a]H assignments to shifts shall be posted in the Police Station.” It is inconceivable that the police department should not keep such records in the ordinary course of its affairs. The selectmen may properly agree with the association that it will be furnished with such records or information.
(b) Article 7 provides that members of the police department shall be granted one leave of absence without pay once every five years for a period not to exceed one month, subject to extension to a total up to ninety days. These leaves may be granted for “any reasonable purpose.” “At [the] discretion of [the] employer,” which is the town, there may be more than one every five years. The number
of men on leave at one time is to be “at [the] discretion of [the] employer.” In each case “[Reasonable purpose” is to be agreed upon by the association and the employer. The provisions of the agreement, which allow leaves of absence without pay, and which determine their length and frequency, involve matters of policy properly within the authority of the selectmen to negotiate on “conditions of employment” and they do not conflict with any law. But, we reiterate that under § 97A the chief has the sole authority to assign officers to duty, and therefore he alone has authority to decide when leaves will be granted, how many officers will be permitted to be on leave at one time, and whether any officer may have more than one leave within five years. The selectmen may negotiate a contract specifying what shall constitute a “reasonable purpose” for granting a leave, but they have not done so. They may not by contract reserve to themselves the right to fix leaves and by the exercise thereof effectively interfere with the chief’s sole authority to assign officers.
(c) Article 16 establishes a detailed procedure for the processing of grievances. It defines a “grievance” as “a complaint by an officer or a group of officers that is based upon an alleged violation of, or an alleged variation from, the provisions of this contract, or the interpretation, meaning or application thereof.” To the extent that the selectmen have authority to bargain and contract on wages, hours and conditions of employment, they may also include in the contract a procedure for processing grievances arising solely under the contract itself. As thus limited, article 16 does not exceed the authority of the selectmen. However, it is clear that such procedures cannot be required by the contract to apply to alleged grievances arising from any action which the chief is authorized to take under § 97A.
The final decree entered in the Superior Court declared certain provisions of the collective bargaining agreement between the town and the association to be null and void, and it enjoined the defendants from enforcing and implementing those provisions. We have held above that several
of those provisions are valid. The final decree must therefore be modified accordingly. Paragraphs 5 and 7 of the final decree are to be modified by striking out the following language now appearing in each such paragraph: “Articles 4, 5, 7, that portion of Article 11 (2 through end), the second and third paragraphs of Article 12, Article 16, 17, and 19 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement,” and by substituting therefor in each such paragraph the following: “Article 4, that portion of Article 7 after the word ‘years’ in the second sentence thereof, that portion of Article 11 consisting of the paragraphs numbered (2) and (3) under the heading of ‘Seniority,’ and the paragraphs numbered (1) and (2) under the heading of ‘Other Provisions,’ the second and third paragraphs of Article 12, Article 17, that portion of Article 18 consisting of the first and third sentences of paragraph 1 under the heading of ‘Extra Paid Details,’ and Article 19 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.”
The final decree, modified as required above, is affirmed.
So ordered.