08-14-2008, 06:14 PM
Is he looking out for us or not?!?!?!
Article published Aug 13, 2008
FDLE may be forced to cut more positions
Commissioner: DNA lab work, fingerprinting will not be affected
By Bill Cotterell
FLORIDA CAPITAL BUREAU POLITICAL EDITOR
The head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Tuesday budget belt-tightening may force 40 to 50 layoffs and that the state might pull out of all but the biggest drug cases.
FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey said he is meeting with sheriffs and police-chief associations to see what they are most willing to give up. He told Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet that the department's most sought-after services, like DNA laboratory work and fingerprint checks, will not be scaled back but that some extremely difficult choices lie ahead.
The agency has 1,963 full-time-equivalent positions. Where the job losses come is yet to be decided.
Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, a certified law-enforcement officer, told Bailey that his own inspectors and firefighters are also feeling the pinch of the state's sluggish economy. Bronson said promises to "hold harmless" law enforcement never survive big budget cuts.
Crist recently ordered agencies to impound 4 percent of their operating budgets, in anticipation of state revenue collections falling below the already-gloomy projections.
"There are no decisions I can make there that I will be roundly applauded for," Bailey said at a Cabinet meeting.
He said FDLE cut 56 jobs last fiscal year, froze hiring on 134 vacancies and halted internal promotions.
"Even with freezing these positions, when we cut the 4 percent that's coming, I'm looking — depending on the level of positions — at somewhere between 40 and 50 live bodies," Bailey said. "I think we've taken care of the fat already, with those 56 that were cut earlier, in fact we got into some muscle with that one."
Bailey said about 3,000 arrests are made every day in Florida and local police agencies turn to FDLE for criminal- history checks, fingerprinting and other technical services.
"Almost everything we do has a constituency so we're very carefully going through the process now of prioritizing the things that we do," Bailey said. "There are some things that we're doing today that we're going to have to stop doing."
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink asked him to "come back and share with us" whatever reductions he decides to make after meeting with the sheriffs and police chiefs. "We might have some different opinions," she said.
After his presentation, Bailey said investigating public corruption, Internet crime and gang violence will remain high priorities. So will big drug hauls, but he said local agencies or the federal government might have to handle the routine cases.
"We've got DEA out there, you've got the counties, you've got the cities, everybody involved in mid-level drugs," he said. "We're considering moving to the point where we're only involved in major drug cases and prioritizing what we do with other things."
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I guess no jobs are safe now - not even law enforcement positions. :cry:
Article published Aug 13, 2008
FDLE may be forced to cut more positions
Commissioner: DNA lab work, fingerprinting will not be affected
By Bill Cotterell
FLORIDA CAPITAL BUREAU POLITICAL EDITOR
The head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Tuesday budget belt-tightening may force 40 to 50 layoffs and that the state might pull out of all but the biggest drug cases.
FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey said he is meeting with sheriffs and police-chief associations to see what they are most willing to give up. He told Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet that the department's most sought-after services, like DNA laboratory work and fingerprint checks, will not be scaled back but that some extremely difficult choices lie ahead.
The agency has 1,963 full-time-equivalent positions. Where the job losses come is yet to be decided.
Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, a certified law-enforcement officer, told Bailey that his own inspectors and firefighters are also feeling the pinch of the state's sluggish economy. Bronson said promises to "hold harmless" law enforcement never survive big budget cuts.
Crist recently ordered agencies to impound 4 percent of their operating budgets, in anticipation of state revenue collections falling below the already-gloomy projections.
"There are no decisions I can make there that I will be roundly applauded for," Bailey said at a Cabinet meeting.
He said FDLE cut 56 jobs last fiscal year, froze hiring on 134 vacancies and halted internal promotions.
"Even with freezing these positions, when we cut the 4 percent that's coming, I'm looking — depending on the level of positions — at somewhere between 40 and 50 live bodies," Bailey said. "I think we've taken care of the fat already, with those 56 that were cut earlier, in fact we got into some muscle with that one."
Bailey said about 3,000 arrests are made every day in Florida and local police agencies turn to FDLE for criminal- history checks, fingerprinting and other technical services.
"Almost everything we do has a constituency so we're very carefully going through the process now of prioritizing the things that we do," Bailey said. "There are some things that we're doing today that we're going to have to stop doing."
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink asked him to "come back and share with us" whatever reductions he decides to make after meeting with the sheriffs and police chiefs. "We might have some different opinions," she said.
After his presentation, Bailey said investigating public corruption, Internet crime and gang violence will remain high priorities. So will big drug hauls, but he said local agencies or the federal government might have to handle the routine cases.
"We've got DEA out there, you've got the counties, you've got the cities, everybody involved in mid-level drugs," he said. "We're considering moving to the point where we're only involved in major drug cases and prioritizing what we do with other things."
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I guess no jobs are safe now - not even law enforcement positions. :cry: