03-21-2008, 05:31 PM
This was in the BSO forum regarding the Ft. Lauderdale PD. It's lengthy, but good reading. We need to start doing the same thing. Make sure everyone you work with adheres to this. No more "advising" on 49's, 22's, 68 standby's
Backup calls slow Fort Lauderdale police response to some incidents
Officers should insist on support, union leader says
By Brittany Wallman | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE - Police are taking longer to respond to calls like fender benders or domestic arguments, following a union instruction to insist on backup.
The move, which has some residents waiting hours for officers, shows the depth of City Hall's contract struggle with its police union, as the police reach their sixth month without a contract.
In a union newsletter obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fraternal Order of Police President Jack Lokeinsky insisted officers demand backup support at every emergency or in-progress call, in effect reducing the number of available officers by half.Previously, officers did not always ask for backup from a second police officer. They would get on the scene and determine whether help was needed.
Lokeinsky told the officers to insist on backup "even for seemingly the most routine or mundane calls." In-progress calls are those in which the crime or subject of complaint is still occurring or just occurred: loud noise, a prowler, a fight. With two officers at those calls, the lesser complaints wait even longer.
"It is unfortunate that the citizens of Fort Lauderdale may be affected by these necessary and prudent officer safety guidelines," Lokeinsky's letter says. "However, the City, itself, has the ability, as well as the obligation, to remedy this situation."
Vice Mayor Carlton Moore was upset about the letter, lambasting Lokeinsky for an irresponsible approach to contract woes. He said taxpayers pay well for police service and that city commissioners are listening to taxpayers in trying to control payroll.
Police Chief Bruce Roberts said he's aware of the union's strict adherence to policy and acknowledged that it will further delay the non-emergency calls that already sat on hold because of understaffing. But he said he's confident "the public is safe."
The force of 510 was reduced by 12 positions this year to save money. On top of that, Roberts said, 34 jobs are open, and 30 officers are unavailable because of light duty, training or other reasons.
Lokeinsky's advisory was published in the January union newsletter The FOP Star. He wrote about violence against police and what he said was the city's refusal to address staffing. The union has held rallies, bought ads and billboards and this week demanded the city manager's firing or resignation.
"We've been met by excuses, avoidance and a 'do more with less' mantra," Lokeinsky wrote.
Moore said "they're calling for the resignation of the wrong individual" and said Lokeinsky should step down.
The public is irate about lack of officers and long delays.
One Victoria Park woman said in February that she was awakened at about 5 a.m. by her growling dog. A man was leaning on her front door. The woman, Carol Brafman, was terrified. Police took 25 minutes to respond. All that was left was the man's shoe.
"The POLICE are NOT timely and I do not feel safe in this neighborhood any more," she said in an e-mail to her civic association. Brafman said she called 911 three times.
"They said, 'We know about it. Is he in your house?'" Brafman recalled Thursday.
Another Victoria Park resident, James Holloway, president of the civic association, told City Hall that he was on a bicycle with his toddler son in February when he was attacked by a man he'd just photographed in a suspected drug exchange. He waited an hour and 15 minutes, and the city's homeless outreach officer arrived, being paid overtime, and told him there was nothing he could do.
"Last week a school teacher was attacked and bloodied by a resident's errant pit bull," Holloway wrote to a commissioner this month. "The police weren't even able to come to her rescue at all."
Police Sgt. Mike Tucker, a Fraternal Order of Police official, said he knows the waits are frustrating. But, he said, even a noise complaint can turn deadly. One call Tucker went to for a loud stereo morphed into the arrest of a homicide fugitive, he said.
Officers can't assume a backup will arrive anymore.
Staffing is lower than it's been in several years, because of budget cuts and vacancies.
Roberts said he authorized extra overtime to help get officers on the streets, and said he added staff in recruiting and background checks to help fill vacancies. He said he wants to focus on reducing crime, and he wants the contract resolved.
Fort Lauderdale officers earn $49,393 starting pay, and after five years hit the maximum $63,897. They asked for 31.5 percent raises over three years and an annual pension check increase; the city's latest offer is 10 percent over two years.
"They deserve the best contract, they really do," Roberts said. "They work hard. They deserve to be up there, and everybody's working in that direction."
Commissioner Christine Teel said she doesn't think officers are getting a green light to ignore calls. Many of the officers "have wonderful attitudes" and love their jobs, she said.
Lokeinsky suggested in his letter that upsetting residents is a union goal.
"I am hopeful," he wrote, "that the citizens will rise up and demand that the city initiate immediate action to resolve the officer retention problem so that our officers can simultaneously serve the public and work in a safe environment as it has always done in the past.
Backup calls slow Fort Lauderdale police response to some incidents
Officers should insist on support, union leader says
By Brittany Wallman | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE - Police are taking longer to respond to calls like fender benders or domestic arguments, following a union instruction to insist on backup.
The move, which has some residents waiting hours for officers, shows the depth of City Hall's contract struggle with its police union, as the police reach their sixth month without a contract.
In a union newsletter obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fraternal Order of Police President Jack Lokeinsky insisted officers demand backup support at every emergency or in-progress call, in effect reducing the number of available officers by half.Previously, officers did not always ask for backup from a second police officer. They would get on the scene and determine whether help was needed.
Lokeinsky told the officers to insist on backup "even for seemingly the most routine or mundane calls." In-progress calls are those in which the crime or subject of complaint is still occurring or just occurred: loud noise, a prowler, a fight. With two officers at those calls, the lesser complaints wait even longer.
"It is unfortunate that the citizens of Fort Lauderdale may be affected by these necessary and prudent officer safety guidelines," Lokeinsky's letter says. "However, the City, itself, has the ability, as well as the obligation, to remedy this situation."
Vice Mayor Carlton Moore was upset about the letter, lambasting Lokeinsky for an irresponsible approach to contract woes. He said taxpayers pay well for police service and that city commissioners are listening to taxpayers in trying to control payroll.
Police Chief Bruce Roberts said he's aware of the union's strict adherence to policy and acknowledged that it will further delay the non-emergency calls that already sat on hold because of understaffing. But he said he's confident "the public is safe."
The force of 510 was reduced by 12 positions this year to save money. On top of that, Roberts said, 34 jobs are open, and 30 officers are unavailable because of light duty, training or other reasons.
Lokeinsky's advisory was published in the January union newsletter The FOP Star. He wrote about violence against police and what he said was the city's refusal to address staffing. The union has held rallies, bought ads and billboards and this week demanded the city manager's firing or resignation.
"We've been met by excuses, avoidance and a 'do more with less' mantra," Lokeinsky wrote.
Moore said "they're calling for the resignation of the wrong individual" and said Lokeinsky should step down.
The public is irate about lack of officers and long delays.
One Victoria Park woman said in February that she was awakened at about 5 a.m. by her growling dog. A man was leaning on her front door. The woman, Carol Brafman, was terrified. Police took 25 minutes to respond. All that was left was the man's shoe.
"The POLICE are NOT timely and I do not feel safe in this neighborhood any more," she said in an e-mail to her civic association. Brafman said she called 911 three times.
"They said, 'We know about it. Is he in your house?'" Brafman recalled Thursday.
Another Victoria Park resident, James Holloway, president of the civic association, told City Hall that he was on a bicycle with his toddler son in February when he was attacked by a man he'd just photographed in a suspected drug exchange. He waited an hour and 15 minutes, and the city's homeless outreach officer arrived, being paid overtime, and told him there was nothing he could do.
"Last week a school teacher was attacked and bloodied by a resident's errant pit bull," Holloway wrote to a commissioner this month. "The police weren't even able to come to her rescue at all."
Police Sgt. Mike Tucker, a Fraternal Order of Police official, said he knows the waits are frustrating. But, he said, even a noise complaint can turn deadly. One call Tucker went to for a loud stereo morphed into the arrest of a homicide fugitive, he said.
Officers can't assume a backup will arrive anymore.
Staffing is lower than it's been in several years, because of budget cuts and vacancies.
Roberts said he authorized extra overtime to help get officers on the streets, and said he added staff in recruiting and background checks to help fill vacancies. He said he wants to focus on reducing crime, and he wants the contract resolved.
Fort Lauderdale officers earn $49,393 starting pay, and after five years hit the maximum $63,897. They asked for 31.5 percent raises over three years and an annual pension check increase; the city's latest offer is 10 percent over two years.
"They deserve the best contract, they really do," Roberts said. "They work hard. They deserve to be up there, and everybody's working in that direction."
Commissioner Christine Teel said she doesn't think officers are getting a green light to ignore calls. Many of the officers "have wonderful attitudes" and love their jobs, she said.
Lokeinsky suggested in his letter that upsetting residents is a union goal.
"I am hopeful," he wrote, "that the citizens will rise up and demand that the city initiate immediate action to resolve the officer retention problem so that our officers can simultaneously serve the public and work in a safe environment as it has always done in the past.