Time to open up Tampa Palms to shift bid

Want the Palms opened to shift bid?? Tell the St. Pete Times about how the current officers are selected. I'm sure they would love to print a headline that reads:

"Wealthy Whites Get Hand-Picked Police While Poor Blacks Suffer"

I'm surprised that the story hasn't come out yet as long as the Palms has been a "special" squad. And don't start bringing up the COP spots in Belmont Heights and Robles. Two officers per cycle is a lot different from an entire squad.

There is nothing special about the Palms to require a non-biddable squad. The same COP concerns that exist in the Palms exist elsewhere in the city. The Palms squad is nothing but another patrol squad. Justify why the Palms squad is not biddable, yet the squads that work Sector B, where the property values are every bit as high, are not biddable.

Check you facts moron, there have been and currently are vlack officers in the palms. There are also females and hispanics. The race card is old and has been over used. Get a life. How bout the other headline you should tell the media. "If you want a job in law enforcement, make sure you are black, female or both".

Fixed geographic accountability and generalist responsibilities:

In community policing, the majority of staffing, command, deployment, and tactical decision-making are geographically based. Appropriate personnel (to be determined by the officer in command, so that the goals and objectives can be obtained) are assigned to fixed geographic areas for extended periods of time in order to foster communication and partnerships between individual officers and their community, and are accountable for reducing crime and disorder within their assigned area.

Officers are held accountable for decisions and the effects of their efforts at solving problems and reducing crime and disorder within the community. If they fail, or if the officer in command feels that more suitable personnel can accomplish the mission, these officer will and should be replaced.

Follow-up Post:

ARTICLE 3
CITY'S MANAGEMENT RIGHTS
3.1 Except as expressly limited by any provision of this Agreement, the City reserves and retains exclusively all of its normal and inherent rights with respect to the management of its operations, whether exercised or not, including, but not limited to, its right to determine, and from time to time redetermine, the number, location and type of its
various operations, functions and services; the methods, procedures and policies to be employed; to discontinue the conduct of any operation, function or service, in whole or in part; to transfer its operations, functions or services from or to, either in whole or in part, any
of its departments or other divisions; to select and direct the working force in accordance with requirements determined by the City; to create, modify or discontinue jobs; to establish and change working rules and regulations; to create new job classifications; to establish and change work schedules and assignments; to transfer, or promote employees; to lay off, furlough, demote or otherwise relieve employees from work for lack of work, lack of funds, or other legitimate reason; to suspend, discharge, demote or otherwise discipline employees for just cause; to subcontract; and to alter or vary past practices and otherwise to take such
measures as the City may determine to be necessary to the orderly and efficient operation of its various operations, functions and services.

11.4 Shift Bidding. While management reserves the right and responsibility to assign personnel depending on the needs of the organization, management also recognizes that when all else is equal, personnel should have the opportunity to work a shift conduciveto their specific situation. Pursuant to this philosophy, uniform patrol personnel will be afforded the opportunity to bid for their preferred division, squad and shift in uniform patrol based upon their classification seniority.

Check you facts moron, there have been and currently are vlack officers in the palms. There are also females and hispanics. The race card is old and has been over used. Get a life. How bout the other headline you should tell the media. "If you want a job in law enforcement, make sure you are black, female or both".

It doesn't have anything to do with the officers in the Palms, the fact is that a predominantly white area of the city gets hand-selected police while the predominantly minority areas get the rookies who do not have the bid power to leave. Saying that only white officers work the Palms would be akin to saying there are no good minority officers, which couldn't be further from the truth.

There is no valid reason why the Palms cannot be a biddable squad. There's nothing different about policing the Palms than policing anywhere else in the city. The 'geographic accountability' argument of COP exists everywhere, not just in the Palms. The Mike units take calls like everyone else and don't do anything special like QUAD or SAC.

If you truly feel that the Palms should be a non-biddable squad, then answer the following question:

What makes Tampa Palms different from any other area of the city in order to justify hand-selected officers?

I do not feel the palms is a special place that should be protected from shift bid. however I have a problem with people complaining about race and other similar BS. Race is an invalid arguement in our line of work. If you go to sulfur springs the majority of residents are black, if you go to west tampa a majority of the residents are hispanic, if you go to south tampa the majority of residents are white. However the majority of police officers are white. Thats a fact and can't be changed. IF there were more black officers then white, you would be complaining about that too. Also in response to the rookie officers working in the minority areas, sir thats how the cookie crumbles. When they get seniority they can bid off just like everyone else before them.

I do not feel the palms is a special place that should be protected from shift bid. however I have a problem with people complaining about race and other similar BS. Race is an invalid arguement in our line of work.

If race is an invalid argument (which I agree that it SHOULD be), then why is the Palms exempt from shift bid? While race is not directly the issue, economic status is. Since minorities as a whole make less money than whites and since New Tampa is comprised of a majority of residents who are financially secure, it's no surprise that New Tampa is predominantly white. In fact, the 33647 zip code has a larger percentage of white, non-hispanic residents than any other zip code in the City of Tampa. It also has a higher percentage of college educated residents and aside from a couple zip codes in South Tampa, has the highest per capita income in the city.

Race should not be the issue, but it ends up being the issue when you look at the demographics of the area and the reasons behind making New Tampa a non-biddable patrol squad. It screams unfairness and I would imagine most citizens would feel that way as well.

It doesn't have anything to do with the officers in the Palms, the fact is that a predominantly white area of the city gets hand-selected police while the predominantly minority areas get the rookies who do not have the bid power to leave.

You must be from the me, myself, and I crew!

If you are a rookie, you should be working in the Springs, Robles, Ybor, Etc. Go learn how to do real police work, do your time in the pit, and earn your F-ing right to get things. You thing that because you are a pretty boy that everything is going to be handed to you!

And so that you don't think that I am only picking on the rookies. M.P.O that are R.O.D. (Retired on Duty) do not deserve to be given the opportunity either. Yes they did their time in the pit, but just because they have been there and done that, it doesn't mean that they don't have to work anymore. And sadly, that is what a lot of them think.

Don't get me wrong, I know several M.P.O.'s that work hard and can run circles around a squad of rookies, but they are out numbered by the lazy ones.

And here is the thing that I find funny: If you look at the squads, you will see that there are M.P.O.'s on the squads, and you will see officers that have an average of five years on the squad. You have blacks, hispanics, whites, and females. Even if it was biddable, rookies would still end up in the Springs, Robles, Ybor, etc.

So what is the argument here? I'll tell you. It comes from a few cry babies, that either didn't get selected and/or were told to leave. My guess would be that the greater % would come from people that were kicked off.

And from what I have heard from officers and supervisors that work up there, when there is a vacancy up there, they don't get to many people that are interested in coming up to the Palms.

So again I have to state: What is the argument here? A few cry babies, that either didn't get selected and/or were told to leave. Get over it![/quote]

This particular Sgt got rid of a b/f and h/m for his white buddies. They should get rid of him and his rookie buddies. Open it up this place isn't special because the Chief lives up there and a bunch of white wanna be rich people

It doesn't have anything to do with the officers in the Palms, the fact is that a predominantly white area of the city gets hand-selected police while the predominantly minority areas get the rookies who do not have the bid power to leave.

You must be from the me, myself, and I crew!

If you are a rookie, you should be working in the Springs, Robles, Ybor, Etc. Go learn how to do real police work, do your time in the pit, and earn your F-ing right to get things. You thing that because you are a pretty boy that everything is going to be handed to you!

And so that you don't think that I am only picking on the rookies. M.P.O that are R.O.D. (Retired on Duty) do not deserve to be given the opportunity either. Yes they did their time in the pit, but just because they have been there and done that, it doesn't mean that they don't have to work anymore. And sadly, that is what a lot of them think.

Don't get me wrong, I know several M.P.O.'s that work hard and can run circles around a squad of rookies, but they are out numbered by the lazy ones.

And here is the thing that I find funny: If you look at the squads, you will see that there are M.P.O.'s on the squads, and you will see officers that have an average of five years on the squad. You have blacks, hispanics, whites, and females. Even if it was biddable, rookies would still end up in the Springs, Robles, Ybor, etc.

So what is the argument here? I'll tell you. It comes from a few cry babies, that either didn't get selected and/or were told to leave. My guess would be that the greater % would come from people that were kicked off.

And from what I have heard from officers and supervisors that work up there, when there is a vacancy up there, they don't get to many people that are interested in coming up to the Palms.

So again I have to state: What is the argument here? A few cry babies, that either didn't get selected and/or were told to leave. Get over it!

[/quote]

Amen brother, the person who started this BS string is one of the people you mentioned. They are angry becuase they didn't get what they want. The only people who make race an issue are people who are undeducated.

So what is the argument here? I'll tell you. It comes from a few cry babies, that either didn't get selected and/or were told to leave. My guess would be that the greater % would come from people that were kicked off.

On the other hand, the argument for the Palms staying a non-biddable squad comes from people already on the squad who know they wouldn't have the seniority to stay should the squad be opened up to bidding. That makes a lot more sense than what you wrote. Why would a rookie care whether or not he has the ability to bid to the Palms when he knows he wouldn't make it there anyway?

I've never worked in the Palms, nor do I care to. I believe it should be opened up to shift bid because per our NEGOTIATED PBA CONTRACT, uniform patrol squads are biddable based upon seniority. If the Palms squad is something other than a uniform patrol squad, please let me know. Last time I checked though they still worked a geographic area of the city and are dispatched to regular calls for service like all other uniformed patrol officers working in other sectors.

I know, I know...how DARE someone complain on the grounds of equality and fairness??? Our bid process is something that we have negotiated for and is something that the city has tried to change. Many departments don't have a bid process, they just assign officers on patrol wherever they see fit. While not monetary in nature, the right to shift bid is a negotiated benefit and officers should demand that the city follow our PBA contract to the letter.

So let's say we ignore the fact that the city is violating the contract by not letting the UNIFORMED PATROL squad in the Palms bid. No big deal. What other violations are we also going to ignore? Maybe the city will stop paying our longevity awards next. Going to let them do that? How about change the disciplinary process?

Nobody has presented a valid reason why the Palms should remain a non-biddable squad. The argument about using it as a way to get rid of non-productive officers is meaningless, since that argument can be made for any other patrol squad (especially many dayshift squads). Why should non-productive officers be allowed to work anyplace else in the city but the Palms? Again....because "special people" live there.

Anyway, the Palms is long overdue for being opened up for bidding. Hopefully our new PBA administration will see this as a contract violation and do the right thing, since Durkin ignored it.