Wayne Lewis

Well Wayne Lewis won the election. I hope and pray that means good things for the police department.

Lets get this show on the road. Wayne is in and he can help us, but we have to give him something positive to work with. Stay focused, stay busy and give the people the type pf service only we can give, fast, professional, and quality service. We might not be able to control what the commission does, but we can control what we do as a group. This is our chance, make good use of it.

I agree totally, We need to respond quickly and professionally. The patrol units need stay visual to the citizens and the detectives need to talk to as many victims as they can.

Staying focused, getting the job done, and being professional. You all are being evaluated and scrutinized at this time by other's in the city, as well as some on the commission.

Don't forget the Sheriff would love to still take the BPD over. Get out there and keep writing tickets, and putting the bad guys in jail. How are the STATs these days? Show that you can do the job even with low man power. I dont see near as many BPD cars on the streets as I used to.

As a Fellow agency who does not want to go under the Sheriffs control, I hope to see more flashing lights and the stopping of vehicle's on Bartow's streets.

Some are wanting you all to keep doing a poor job because it will show that you all do need the assistance of the sheriffs office. Show them that you can go out and do the job that needs to be done. If your really the team you think you are, then get the game going and start scoring some points. The ball is in your court right now!

true2blue,
thanks for the words of encouragement. Thre are some things i disagree with u about tho.
weve had low manpower for years and we have consistently been doing a good job. that is nothing new for us.
i dont think writing a bunch of tickets and throwing a bunch of stats up means we are doing a good job (or a poor job either).
its about professionalism, doing a good job and doing it right.
again concerning your last paragraph-weve always been doing a good job. if you or others think weve been doing a poor job you are a victim of the media, rumor, or something else.
again, thinks for the kudos, just dont lower us to a place we arent.
and for the record we view pcso as a great agency and have no ill will to them or GJ.

Thanks True2blue for your encouragement and kind words. I understand what you are saying and I dont think you are running us down. Please keep supporting us. We need positive thinkers like you.

I agree Guest, that you all have done a GREAT job for years, what I was trying to bring across is that there are some that will try and keep Bartow Police Department stagnet, and will make look Bartow police Dept as needy as possible, so that the PCSO can take over.

Sorry for the confusion... Keep up the great work BPD. and Be careful on ones motives

By the way guest I have no ill will toward the PCSO and I think GJ is a Very good leader and does very well for the PCSO. However, go to PCSO message board and see what some think of BPD and their officers.


You know and I know that different agencies have their "Band of Brothers" I think they do have a different mentality, and they do act differently. That is not to say they are good or bad officers, it just means I would like BPD officers to stay BPD officers, and PCSO offiers stay themselves also.

My post are not in the way you guys or them do your jobs. You each have a difficult job and you get it done, and I respect officers and think that you all have one of the most dangerous jobs out there. BPD is Bartow history, it is what you all have worked hard for, some have bleed for, stayed awake countless hours for, missed out on family events for, stood together side by side for, and it would just be a great lose to see it go away.

When is the next Commission meeting so we can see this Mr. Lewis in action and how is he take on the Bartow Police Department going over to the Sheriffs Office? Personally, I love the Service you Good Ole' boys give us here in Bartow. Keep up the great work!

At the last epac (East Side Community Meeting) , meeting it was asked what was the status of the police department. The reply consisted of how the citizens would benefit if the sheriff provided law enforcement services. The police department is not equipped to provide the necessary services currently required and lacks the resources to address future requirements. The officers do not receive the same level of training as deputies and have a limited exposure to a verity of crimes that would further prepare them for the future. The equipment is out dated and will require a tremendous amount of funding to restore the agency.

Present at the meeting;

City Manager
Dir. Williams
Commissioner Longworth

What is your opinion on this explanation?

What they said is the truth. But what they didnt say (or it was excluded from the post) is this is not unusual. I dont know of any organization that does not need financial support to stay healthy. The problem is the police department was allowed, by mismanagement and incapable leadership, to rapidly disintegrate. Most of the capable well trained employees who left, left due the fact the department had no leadership and lacked vision and direction, not the pay or benifits. The equipment situation is the result of the head in the sand attitude and budget mishandeling by Delegge. He was told over 5 years ago during multiple bugdet meetings the need for radio equpiment replacement was inevitable but he didnt react and he failed to plan for it.

The fact is BPD is in need of money. It has the people in place which will do the job. We have proven that, and given the chance we will continue to do so. What we need is the chance and the suport to rebuild. It will be expensive, but there is a price to pay for everything, and I believe the citizens will be willing to pay it. The question is, Is the commission willing to stop the chicken little act, and are they willing to bite the bullet and propose the needed tax increases? There is a solution. The citizens must be confronted with the news>>>>>>>> you must pay more to make what you have better, or loose it plain and simple.

Late last year, at the request of city planners, the police department indicted that the planned build out of the Clear Springs Mine Properties would require the addition of over 90 officers. The build out could be complete by 2025 or so. How much do you think it will cost the citizens to maintain the current coverage levels by having PCSO provide over 100 deputies to cover Bartow?????? Judd will be long gone and we dont know who will be running PCSO. Would that sheriff even be willing to do that???? Do we really want to chance that ??????? Do the citizens of Bartow want to have no control over thier police?????

I assure you that any savings will be absorbed by then and Bartow will just be a blip on the PCSO sector map!!!!!!! Starting a new police department would be incredibly expensive and any savings ( if there are actually savings realized ) would be expended to start a new PD. Bartow is growing and 10 to 15 years from now the city will have expanded and then it will have the tax base to suppot the PD. The time to save the PD is now. We have a new city manager and commissioners in place which may see thier way to fixing this. It will be tough but it can be done. Remember, You only will get what your willing to pay for.

At the last epac (East Side Community Meeting) , meeting it was asked what was the status of the police department. The reply consisted of how the citizens would benefit if the sheriff provided law enforcement services. The police department is not equipped to provide the necessary services currently required and lacks the resources to address future requirements. The officers do not receive the same level of training as deputies and have a limited exposure to a verity of crimes that would further prepare them for the future. The equipment is out dated and will require a tremendous amount of funding to restore the agency.

Present at the meeting;

City Manager
Dir. Williams
Commissioner Longworth

What is your opinion on this explanation?

FYI Folks,

I was at the epac meeting as well, and i dont remember hearing this.

true2blu,

i was the one that responded to your first post. no hard feelings and i understand your post better now.

heres the thing tho:

since williams has come over (grreat guy btw), the then acting city manager and others tried to put the problems off on the line level employees, something that really PISSED me off.

we had nothing to do with it...it was a DIRECT result of city manager, city commissioners, chief and other admin at the PD-altho not all, acting in THEIR best interest and not in the employees or city of bartoiws best interest.

we have a great group of people that are police officers, with lots of different backgrounds and experiences and abilities.

some of the people that were in charge are gone and we are operating pretty smoothly, altho we are short of manpower.

we cant do a whole lot without manpower, which Long has refused to allow us to hire more people, so we are still kinda stuck in a hard place.

i ask to everyone that reads this

why hasnt Long let the PD hire more people even tho everyone knows we are short and it is a strain on the officers?

Politics my friend... its all about politics!

Lewis can't do a thing. It takes a majority vote, not 1 vote. He and the other commissioners are going to have to figure out what to do with an estimated $700,000 less this year than last. But, at least they'll save some by not having Lewis with his perpetual no competition "bid", huh?

Lewis can't do a thing. It takes a majority vote, not 1 vote. He and the other commissioners are going to have to figure out what to do with an estimated $700,000 less this year than last. But, at least they'll save some by not having Lewis with his perpetual no competition "bid", huh?

I guess you spoke to soon, mr. man

so, Wayne's been in a while and not a peep out of him. He can't do squat alone. There are 5 commissioners, and he'll need a majority. Now that he's in, he's finding out the city has NO money. HAHAHA! He'll do nothing.

Well Wayne Lewis won the election. I hope and pray that means good things for the police department.

How's that support for Lewis coming along? All talk and no show. He voted for a budget with NO raises. He's not offered ONE idea to raise money to improve the PD. He suckered a bunch of city employees with bogus promises, it looks like.