07-22-2008, 02:11 PM
Read'em and weep'em you new recruits! Still want to be a SLEO?
Legacy of neglect: Public safety crisis
By Matt Puckett
Florida Voice
As the first line of defense, the roof of a home serves as the chief protector of all its inhabitants. In fact, the home's occupants mandate that a roof withstand blistering heat, bitter cold, heavy rains, gusting winds, and even pieces of fallen debris in the performance of its duties. Over the course of its life, a roof will require upkeep investment for such things as leaks, minor structural damage and then the inevitable complete resurfacing. Of course, there is always the possibility, especially in Florida , of a catastrophic event requiring the replacement of the entire roof. Owners of a home understand the importance of a roof; therefore, the responsible homeowner budgets for its maintenance. The homeowner is secure in the knowledge that the properly maintained roof can seamlessly perform its protective functions to the best of its abilities. The irresponsible homeowner does not budget for these unavoidable expenses and so soon occupies a home with a leaky unsafe roof that can become a hazard to all its inhabitants. In many cases the irresponsible homeowner has created such a legacy of neglect that the expense to repair the roof becomes a catastrophic event in and of itself.
Now let's apply this analogy to the role of public safety in state government. First, consider your public safety force (correctional probation officers, state law enforcement officers and state correctional officers) functions as the roof of your state government providing the protection to Florida 's inhabitants.
Next imagine the Florida Legislature is the homeowner who is expected to maintain the roof through the appropriations process (budget). Then each year the Legislature examines the functionality of its roof, searching for areas in need of repair. Be mindful that unlike the figurative homeowner, our Legislature is constitutionally required to craft a state operating budget; however, we can only hope that the appropriate funding is in the budget to maintain our roof (public safety force).
So how have the fiscal stewards of our roof spent our money?
More often than not, our Legislature has invested in our public safety professionals in a manner similar to the irresponsible homeowners, leaving behind a legacy of neglect at the state's correctional institutions, law enforcement departments and investigative agencies. It chooses to take a "let's just fix the leak" approach instead of looking at what may be the root cause of the leak and taking action to solve the overall problem. That piecemeal approach has left Florida's public safety force drastically underfunded, undervalued and understaffed, which means it will take considerable sustained investment by the Legislature in order to fix the problem.
Right now, Florida's public safety professionals in every certified discipline are leaving by the droves (more than 10 percent on average in 2007) for other non-state employment; draining the state's pool of critical public safety talent at a time when crime is on the rise. The talent drain, coupled with the state's constant recruiting problems, has created a severe staffing shortage in essential services, which could develop into a full blown crisis in Florida 's public safety capabilities. At this rate of officer turnover, our public safety force cannot be expected to operate at staffing levels above the critical stage much longer.
The culprit of this exodus is a lack of investment by the Florida Legislature in the public safety professionals who perform the jobs. There are three prolonged consequences from the lack of investment by the Legislature to our statewide public safety force: Major shortages of experienced talent, dangerously low staffing levels of essential personnel (experienced or not) and a genuine apathy from the officers to the profession.
Since this issue did not pop up overnight, there is no silver bullet quick fix. Just like the irresponsible homeowner's leaky roof, there is a legacy of neglect that spans generations and it will take consistent investment by the Legislature to solve it.
Puckett is deputy executive director of the Florida Police Benevolent Association.
Legacy of neglect: Public safety crisis
By Matt Puckett
Florida Voice
As the first line of defense, the roof of a home serves as the chief protector of all its inhabitants. In fact, the home's occupants mandate that a roof withstand blistering heat, bitter cold, heavy rains, gusting winds, and even pieces of fallen debris in the performance of its duties. Over the course of its life, a roof will require upkeep investment for such things as leaks, minor structural damage and then the inevitable complete resurfacing. Of course, there is always the possibility, especially in Florida , of a catastrophic event requiring the replacement of the entire roof. Owners of a home understand the importance of a roof; therefore, the responsible homeowner budgets for its maintenance. The homeowner is secure in the knowledge that the properly maintained roof can seamlessly perform its protective functions to the best of its abilities. The irresponsible homeowner does not budget for these unavoidable expenses and so soon occupies a home with a leaky unsafe roof that can become a hazard to all its inhabitants. In many cases the irresponsible homeowner has created such a legacy of neglect that the expense to repair the roof becomes a catastrophic event in and of itself.
Now let's apply this analogy to the role of public safety in state government. First, consider your public safety force (correctional probation officers, state law enforcement officers and state correctional officers) functions as the roof of your state government providing the protection to Florida 's inhabitants.
Next imagine the Florida Legislature is the homeowner who is expected to maintain the roof through the appropriations process (budget). Then each year the Legislature examines the functionality of its roof, searching for areas in need of repair. Be mindful that unlike the figurative homeowner, our Legislature is constitutionally required to craft a state operating budget; however, we can only hope that the appropriate funding is in the budget to maintain our roof (public safety force).
So how have the fiscal stewards of our roof spent our money?
More often than not, our Legislature has invested in our public safety professionals in a manner similar to the irresponsible homeowners, leaving behind a legacy of neglect at the state's correctional institutions, law enforcement departments and investigative agencies. It chooses to take a "let's just fix the leak" approach instead of looking at what may be the root cause of the leak and taking action to solve the overall problem. That piecemeal approach has left Florida's public safety force drastically underfunded, undervalued and understaffed, which means it will take considerable sustained investment by the Legislature in order to fix the problem.
Right now, Florida's public safety professionals in every certified discipline are leaving by the droves (more than 10 percent on average in 2007) for other non-state employment; draining the state's pool of critical public safety talent at a time when crime is on the rise. The talent drain, coupled with the state's constant recruiting problems, has created a severe staffing shortage in essential services, which could develop into a full blown crisis in Florida 's public safety capabilities. At this rate of officer turnover, our public safety force cannot be expected to operate at staffing levels above the critical stage much longer.
The culprit of this exodus is a lack of investment by the Florida Legislature in the public safety professionals who perform the jobs. There are three prolonged consequences from the lack of investment by the Legislature to our statewide public safety force: Major shortages of experienced talent, dangerously low staffing levels of essential personnel (experienced or not) and a genuine apathy from the officers to the profession.
Since this issue did not pop up overnight, there is no silver bullet quick fix. Just like the irresponsible homeowner's leaky roof, there is a legacy of neglect that spans generations and it will take consistent investment by the Legislature to solve it.
Puckett is deputy executive director of the Florida Police Benevolent Association.