If you haven't heard yet, you will hear now, about what happened today. Two of our fellow officers were fired, and one was suspended. Our thoughts and prayers are with our two brothers that were let go and their families, the day after Christmas.
Whatever your personal opinion is of the officers that were let go, there is no excuse for the way this was handled. With a union, there would be protocal for matters such as these.
For those of you that are Anti-Union, if there is one thing that you should want from your job, it is job security, and the union can give you that. Like many others have said, the union will not make things perfect, but they can protect our job. As officers, we lay our lives on the line everyday. We shouldn't have to worry about laying our jobs on the line also.
Again, for those of you that are Anti-Union and think that the union may protect officers that are not doing their jobs, there will be protocal and procedures for that also. Not one of us should ever be fired on a whim. Equal treatment for all is what the union will do, and that is what we should all want.
I am sure that everyone in the department has made a mistake at one time or another on the job. I know many of us have been in accidents where we have been found at fault, and we have never been suspended. Now, with talk of the union though, we have an officer suspended for a crash. It should be the same for us all.
Stay Strong and United. Don't let the threats and promises that are coming down scare you or persuade you. If you have been following the posts on this site, you'll see that former officers agree things would be different if the union would have been voted in years ago. This is our chance to see if we can make a positive change for our department and ourselves.
It's funny how now that the union vote is coming, we are hearing about K-9 and the ERT team. I am sure next we will hear about a seargent's exam. All of these things are needs for a growing city and will happen eventually with or without a union. But just as we have heard from past officers of our departmetnt, promises were made before the union vote, and then they were not followed through. Don't let these things make the decision for you. Stay strong no matter what the promises or threats. Don't fold.
And if you were Anti-Union, the events that unfolded today should make you realize why we need a union. There is no reason for us to sit here and talk about who didn't tell who about what meeting, or speculate about hidden agendas for wanting or not wanting the union. All squads and detectives need to come together and stay united so that we can make a difference. We all love what we do and we want to stay here and serve this city, but we want fair treatment and a voice with the city council.
Rock the Vote! Vote yes for the Union!