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View Full Version : MISSION STATEMENT



08-02-2008, 07:13 AM
So its been about about a month now since the new regime took over the pd in what I like to refer to it as the post Larry era. The new chief seems to be a good man who has the potential to be a great leader and make things better around here. However this will be a very tough task since the morale around here is at an all time low. It seems like every other day another detail dissapears, another good cop gets written up for nonsense, or another person gets backstabbed by their coworkers. On top of that we have come to the realization that whatever ends up happening with our contract, it will surely mean another swift kick to the groin for all of us. As our stress and frustration increase as our money and sanity decrease. Who knows, maybe it would be the best for everyone if we did go P.B.S.O. Maybe it would offer people a chance to move around and try different things that would promote their strengths as people and police officers . Maybe this would be the solution to some of our problems. The older guys could find a low key spot in an office or the courthouse for which they have rightfully earned at this point of their careers. The younger guys would have an opportunity to work narcotics, vice, investigations, K9, if they wanted to. Instead of feeling the need to step over and betray one another in order to get ahead for the one or two spots that open up every so often. This would limit the neverending cycle of feeling wronged because someone was picked over them for political reasons. Along time ago, we all believed that going into this profession would be different. I always thought this kind of behavior only existed in the corporate world where money and business outweighed friendship and character. I thought that becoming a cop would make me apart of something special. I thought that since we all took an oath to protect those who could not protect themselves and each realized that at anytime we could leave for work there is a chance that we may never come home, that it would mean something. It would mean that we were a team and that no matter what we had each others backs. Who knows maybe they are right when they say it is the same at every other police department. But why does it have to be? Why do so many good cops get promoted and change their beliefs and forget what it is like to push a car from call to call in the heat for 12 hours with no end in sight. We are constantly being overwhelmed by unsolvable problems, misguided souls, and needless paperwork. We all signed up knowing we had to deal with these things the best way that we know how to. We don't even expect to be praised for these burdens we carry but we also do not expect to get demeaned for them either. Why does it matter what kind of sneakers we wear? Why does it matter if an alarm form is handed in a day late? and why does it matter if the air conditioning is left on in the gym or jail for our comfort? By doing these type of petty things to us is a meaningless show of power, that will only cause an unbreakable barrier between the cops and brass. These types of things will only cause negative feelings and reactions that will hurt all of us and the community that we serve. If you happen to be blessed with the qualities to lead and supervise people in this profession you should not take it for granted. You owe it to the men and women who work hard for you in difficult and dangerous situations to be as supportive and positive as possible. We all have families to support in these unstable times. We should not be made to feel miserable and unappreciated everyday we come into work. We should not be held captive by supervisors with threats of discipline and demoted beat assignments. We really have to examine these individuals who use there power to bully around the people that they supervise. There is something very wrong with a person who not only goes out of their way to pick on a subordinate but actually enjoys it when they make their lives miserable. We should all be better than this. If someone makes a mistake or fails to meet an obligation at work they should be dealt with like people. They should be brought in and spoken to like men face to face in an effort to fix the problem. They should not be spoken about negatively behind their backs and denied an opportunity to be better. With that being said, I hope this new regime can do what is necessary to restore a sense pride within this department. I hope that the cops who work here are treated more fairly for now on. I hope that the people who make the decisions make them with the people who they affect in mind. I hope that we always have each others backs no matter what, because that is the way it should always be. :wink:

08-02-2008, 08:28 PM
very, very well said

spot on

08-03-2008, 03:28 AM
Show me the money McGuire; you will have to be less ambiguous in your assessment. When you say low morale, are you speaking for yourself, perhaps a couple of platoon members or the majority of the police department? At a time where layoffs are vogue seemingly everywhere, we as law enforcement, are almost guaranteed to keep our 60+K jobs (minimum), plus decent health insurance and the security knowing that if we reach 20 years, we will get compensated until we drop, for not coming to work. If you are an active cop or an investigator that is competent and/or conscientious about the product you put forward, why would you be getting written up? As far as what the rules say you wear, or when you turn in assignments, I would ask you if you happen to have kids. If you answered in the affirmative, once again I'd inquire as to how you respond when you get a call from his/her teacher from school, b/c they turn in assignments late or wear inappropriate things to school. Does that bless you? Of course not! You still must maintain your position as an authority figure, even though it isn't popular and reinforce the rules to your kids, right? Ever heard of a gig line? Foolish perhaps, but some rules are just there for gaining compliance. Did you ever consider that the alarm form also has someone assigned to track them and what do you do when someone is off for a few days and forgets to turn them in? If shutting off lights, and performing these few things are causing you low morale than I would say you probably took the job for the wrong reason(s). I CONCUR that unfortunately, police departments are now run like corporations, and I agree that if you have been sworn for more than 15 years, it is not the same job as it once was. The comraderie has also suffered during this transition, but all in all, being a cop is still a great job and like most occupations, it is what you make of it. If that supervisor that allegedly makes threats of demotion, was a slug at the ground level, it is harder to accept, however, if that person was a professional and expects the same high level of competence from subordinates, that he/she put forth, then get 'er done and stop *****ing. The public thinks we are bullies and unreasonable, because we expect them to obey laws and traffic rules; even the less serious ones(in their eyes) like coming to a full stop at stop signs. If every officer continually ignored those seemingly insignificant infractions, order on the road would begin to suffer as would the healthy operation of your home, if your kids could make their own rules. I am NOT a "company man", by any means, but sometimes we all need to broaden our perspectives and just get the job done.

08-04-2008, 09:38 PM
You both make good points. I tend to agree on the ideas of turning a light off if a room isn't in use. Why be wasteful? I also don't see a reason why paperwork can't get turned in by the end of a shift (provided you are still in the city at the end of your shift and not stuck at the jail on overtime). There is however that air of; let's see who we could write up, even though at one point or another I was in a similar situation and didn't do it any better, thing going on.

Moral is a huge issue and there is no question administration and the city's officials spend minimal effort in keeping it up. I'm not going to name names and add to the "witch hunt" because I'm not a rat nor do I wish to throw stones at someone behind an anonymous wall. My point is this, don't tell me my $60k+ a year job is secure so I need to just put up with something and be thankful in times where folks are losing their jobs. Just one thing before moving on, I don’t make $60k a year and while yes many of the benefits I receive cost money, they still do not go into paying my mortgage, tax bills, insurance and certainly are not helping me keep up with the rapidly rising costs of living.

There is good reason to feel like we are getting the short end of the stick. Delray officers are paid less than many other PBC agencies, including PBSO. Our costs for insurance are high. We contribute towards our pension and that is very costly. City officials are telling the media we are compensated too well and need to cut our compensation. Not only that, they are paying outside companies to tell them where we are paid too much. Realizing we should not believe everything the papers publish, I find it hard to swallow that the city’s officials are misquoted. When our City Manager was questioned about the holiday option and why officers can use it to make exorbitant amounts of money for overtime use, he made us look bad by making them believe it’s just something that has always been and who’s he to question it. Being the City Manager and the one who ultimately is our boss, he should have backed us. With conviction he should have let everyone know that we as the police protect our citizens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week regardless of holidays, weekends, leap year etc. We give up time with our families which burden our personal lives. In any other industry, employees are well compensated for that by being paid double or triple for weekends and holidays and those unconventional midnight hours. We however are given an option to use that holiday time in a number of different ways. It does not cost the city an exorbitant amount and in the grand scheme of things actually costs the city a negligible amount. It however benefits the city greatly in the areas of getting and keeping quality employees and allows the officer an ability to cope with working when they otherwise would not, thus keeping the officer from having a bad attitude at work which would effect their performance and quality of service. The holiday option does this for our fine citizens; They get me as an officer, I don’t complain (at least not often) about dealing with the drunks, the crazies, the low lives and the bizarre things that go on while the decent people sleep. They can sleep well even when it’s Christmas Eve, warm in their beds, underneath those cozy down comforters because I will be out there dealing with the trash. Those fine citizens also don’t have to feel guilty knowing they have someone who is not that dissimilar to them passing up on the Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner with my family to also keep them safe because I get to have the option of taking another less family oriented day off or better yet have an option to make a few extra dollars so I might take my family on a little weekend trip to keep connected with them.

There’s lots other things the city is looking at taking away from us and I could write novels on each of them as to why we should keep them (which is why they agreed to give us those benefits in the first place). The city wants to keep the PD under their control instead of turning us over to PBSO and it’s their right to do that. Their desire is simple; to keep a great city with a unique personality that has the charm of a small town beach community. I came to work here because of that, but if the city can not afford to compensate us competitively then it’s time they look to the option of county law enforcement.

We during these times need to be tough. The PBA should be there to back us and even get the raise we deserve without losing other benefits.

08-05-2008, 01:30 AM
great posts

lets keep them coming

08-05-2008, 02:15 AM
you make some good points and they are well taken, however, by your admission that you do not make 60K, I'll presume you are a <than a 5 year officer. That doesn't make you a bad guy or inferior to anyone, but I do think you're perspective is a narrow one. City managers are overpaid from my pov, however, the PD is only one fraction of the city in terms of his responsibility and as such, they will rarely feel the way we do about what we deserve. In every city the PD has the largest budget and the City Manager's main job is to balance the budget, while keeping all the other city employees happy too, including FD. Additionally, you are making your comparisons with PBSO, who got their stellar contract right under the wire, before the bottom fell out on the housing market, and the oil companies decided to play GREED and screw their fellow Americans. Ft.Lauderdale, a department with 4x the manpower of DBPD, and a lot more crime, makes less money than us, pays a lot more towards their pension than us and to my knowledge, is the ONLY department in south Florida w/o a COLA when they retire! True any state plan does not pay into their pension, but they also have to work 25 years to our 20 to begin collecting. You do 20, drop for 5 years while the deputy is still working towards their 25, who comes out ahead?
Times are tough and COPS in general are underpaid, however, our society values athletes, movie stars, and entertainers more than they do us. You should stand strong with the union and get what is fair, but try and broaden your scope and compare apples with apples. Delray is still a good place to work. Lastly, look at what teachers have to put up with and they make half of what we do, on the average. That's what I meant about being thankful for what we have. Be safe my brother; stay strong and enjoy one of the greatest and unique jobs there is.

08-05-2008, 05:27 AM
And by your statements in regards to your POV, it's obvious you are a lot closer to the 20 year mark. I appreciate your positive views geared towards the glass is half full but we can not and should not always look to agencies and careers that compensate with less benefits. We should always look to and strive towards contracts based on the better paying agencies. As for your 20 and out or stay in with a DROP goals to balance things out, I have two points. The first is, I want to and need to live for today because tomorrow may never come. Should tomorrow last well into my golden years then terrific, I'm glad
I chose a profession that allows me to retire well. I have needs and desires today that demand a competitive salary. Other agencies, PBSO included pay better. The sheriff also stood up to the powers that be and got additional funding for his troops salaries. If I look at it from your stand point, they are 20x our size and have less overall crime. My second point is the one I hope you are concerned with. The city is looking to change our multiplier. They want to reduce their operating costs by cutting our retirement benefits and it could come by way of doing away with the cola, reducing the multiplier, and raising our contribution.

It's great that the City Manager is looking out for all the employees, not just police. We however are different in the fact that our jobs bring things to the table most other occupations don't, due to the very nature that we are true first responders dealing with anything and everything. We are the janitors, the problem solvers, the keepers of the peace and do our jobs regardless of all other circumstances which include weekends, holidays or even acts of god. Take away portions of our compensation and you force the better employees, those of use who are talented, articulate, analytical, and have the people skills to succeed in any career, to go back to mainstream America to earn more.

As for teachers, I respect them but have seen the old saying true more often than not; those that can do, those that can’t, teach.

08-06-2008, 12:44 AM
Giving up ground already taken is hardly ever a good strategy unless you get something beneficial for all the members in return. For instance, if management wants to raise contributions and the pension is solvent, they need to give or negotiate something else in return. For instance, perhaps you contribute another 1-1.5 %, but in return, your health insurance premiums are reduced 50%, when you retire; or you raise your multiplier another .5%. Give & take is the name of the game.
If they want to change things for new hires, and I believe that is management's rights, then you run into a Tier system (divide & conquer), however, at least the new employees sign on knowing that their piece of the pie is a bit leaner. The beauty thing of a union is that you have an opportunity to have a collective voice towards being treated judiciously and if the city doesn't bargain in good faith, you still have some options. In the meantime everyone sticks together and continues to strive to put forth a great product so the majority of the community see things from a good perspective; keep in mind that the voter's can still have a significant impact on what happens in small city government.