Advertisement 5 Investigates: Use of civilian flaggers dwindling in Massachusetts Road flaggers rolled out in 2008 under Gov. Deval Patrick Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Promises of millions of dollars of savings every year by using civilian flaggers instead of some police details on roadways has all but vanished as 5 Investigates has found that flaggers have become almost an endangered species in Massachusetts. Watch the report State spending on flaggers has dropped significantly in recent years as spending on police details has increased. Yet MassDOT still boasts on its website that the use of civilian flaggers will steadily increase, even pointing to a bridge in Brockton as an active project using them. But the bridge was built in 2011 and there's not a flagger to be seen."You're pointing to active flagger projects that were completed years ago. Is it window dressing?" asked Investigate Reporter Mike Beaudet. "I don't think it's window dressing," said Michael McGrath, MassDOT's deputy chief engineer for construction. Road flaggers were rolled out in 2008 under Gov. Deval Patrick, prompting widespread protests from police angry at flaggers cutting into their lucrative detail pay. Data obtained by 5 Investigates shows state spending on flaggers more than doubled from 2011 to 2012, but then fell off in 2013 and has continued dropping to less than $1,000,000 in 2015. Compare that to police detail costs over the same time period: nearly $30,000,000 spent in 2011 which then decreased the following year as flagger spending increased. But the trend didn't continue and as flagger spending kept dropping, police detail costs rose higher than ever to $37,000,000 in 2015. "Is the flagger program a failure?" asked Beaudet. "No, not at all," replied McGrath. "Our No. 1 one priority for all of our projects is safety. We can use flaggers below 45 miles-per-hour and we have to use police when it's over 45 miles-per-hour." But that explanation doesn't tell the whole story, according to former state Inspector General Greg Sullivan, now with the Pioneer Institute. "The reason that it's not working is there's a special interest law called the prevailing wage law that came in and trumped the reform," said Sullivan. That law requires flaggers to be paid about $40 an hour, not much less than police officers. But across the country, flaggers are paid much less, an average of $11 an hour. Sullivan says the Legislature should fix the prevailing wage law and allow flaggers to be paid a fair but reasonable wage. He says the state could potentially save millions in the process. Another explanation for the failure: lack of MassDOT support for using civilian flaggers, according to Richard Hughes who ran a company that certified civilian flaggers. "It was good for a couple of years but the police pressure continued," said Hughes who shut down his business in part because of a lack of demand for flaggers. "It seems like if there was a weakness there was enforcement of the MassDOT contracts. If they mandated civilian flaggers then there should have been civilian flaggers," said Hughes. But MassDOT is sticking to its story, saying it's about safety, not a lack of support for civilian flaggers or a lack of interest in cutting costs. 5 Investigates asked the governor's office directly if it's missing an opportunity to save taxpayers millions. A spokesman would only say the administration will carefully review any legislative proposals regarding the prevailing wage law advancing to the governor's desk. We also tried repeatedly to talk to two of the largest police unions in Massachusetts, but never heard back.