The exodus!

[Unregistered]

Two more officers put in their notices this week and others are pending their leaving the department based on KV's decisions in the next few months. Lets see, since taking over as chief that makes around 35? Will anyone at city hall take notice at some point? No raises in 5 years except if you are a non union employee. The city manager has given those people a 6% raise in the last 2 years. Then there is the constant intimidation threat from our administration, but we did get new vehicles. It's time to start looking for a job. Sheriff Knight got his people raises. Our admin and city hall employees have taken their raises, but still no contract for us. Thanks once more for having our backs chief! Let the resignations continue till we have our senior people having 2 years experience.

[Unregistered]

Kevin just sees this as weeding out the bad apples who can not handle his idea of what makes a good police department. A poster IDing herself has Kevins wife use to come on here and voice her anger at how Kevin was treated here.
Been sometime since she was here, wonder if she is seeing the light that Kevin is not the great guy she thought he was.

[Stephanie Gibson]

So who are the officers that resigned? Were they "bad apples" that were invited to resign or truly leaving because of internal problems in the force? If they are the latter, I would hope in their exit interviews that they provide meaningful details so that a pattern can be established and needed changes could be addressed.

For the good guys considering leaving, Please don't. Instead, take ownership and become part of the changes that need to happen. Find a way to lead the change whether that is using the union, exposing the problems with Mr Williams or Mr Davidson with the HT.. There is always a way, find it.

(As to the Chiefs wife, she is entitled to her opinions just like the rest of us. Leave her alone.)

[Unregistered]

So who are the officers that resigned? Were they "bad apples" that were invited to resign or truly leaving because of internal problems in the force? If they are the latter, I would hope in their exit interviews that they provide meaningful details so that a pattern can be established and needed changes could be addressed.

For the good guys considering leaving, Please don't. Instead, take ownership and become part of the changes that need to happen. Find a way to lead the change whether that is using the union, exposing the problems with Mr Williams or Mr Davidson with the HT.. There is always a way, find it.

(As to the Chiefs wife, she is entitled to her opinions just like the rest of us. Leave her alone.)

stephanie you seem like your a nice person, you are an outsider and absolutely do not know how this place operates, if you think for one second admin is not laughing or making comments when you speak to them, you are sadly mistaken.
35 officers, do you know how much this has cost the city. Do think for one minute everyone is a bad apple, they would certainly like you to believe that, but the majority were not. Your looking at this as a sane outsider. If you really want to help, push for admin change. Common sense would tell you, 35 officers, that place has a major problem. FT Myers chief got fired for one lie, hmm, how many lies have been told from admin and yet they still have jobs. They threaten with spying on you, harass you, getting your IP address if you speak against them, hmm isnt that being a bully because its certainly not an effective administrator. They are not far from a federal investigation. As they say every mutt has its day. Remember just because someone is given a bosses position, it doesn't mean they are qualified. Do not think what originally happened to your family was not allowed, previous to you speaking up. So now it wont happen to you at your house. But it will happen elsewhere and actually does. If your in, you can do no wrong, If your out, then someday your out. If someone makes a comment here they are subject to a rebuttal, you do not own this site. So bark your orders elsewhere. Lady V makes a comment then its fair game.

[Unregistered]

Lady V makes a comment then its fair game.

Steph, she is an LEO with SPD. At least she was last time I heard.

[Unregistered]

Two more officers put in their notices this week and others are pending their leaving the department based on KV's decisions in the next few months. Lets see, since taking over as chief that makes around 35? Will anyone at city hall take notice at some point? No raises in 5 years except if you are a non union employee. The city manager has given those people a 6% raise in the last 2 years. Then there is the constant intimidation threat from our administration, but we did get new vehicles. It's time to start looking for a job. Sheriff Knight got his people raises. Our admin and city hall employees have taken their raises, but still no contract for us. Thanks once more for having our backs chief! Let the resignations continue till we have our senior people having 2 years experience.

North Port is growing daily, , Mayberry is gone, so listen here Andy and Barney its time to move on, before you can't get a job anywhere else because of the on going scandals and mismanagement. Hey Ft Myers and Punta Gorda need admin !!!!

[Stephanie Gibson]

Steph, she is an LEO with SPD. At least she was last time I heard.

Absolutely, anyone who posts is fair game to respond to. Goading the Chief's wife when she hasn't posted anywhere recently, is quite different to me. If there are grievances with the current Admin, then direct it to them was my point.

So when we refer to Admin.. are we talking Vespia or Lewis? The non-responsive, ignore em and then punish em smells a lot like our CM.

[Unregistered]

Absolutely, anyone who posts is fair game to respond to. Goading the Chief's wife when she hasn't posted anywhere recently, is quite different to me. If there are grievances with the current Admin, then direct it to them was my point.

So when we refer to Admin.. are we talking Vespia or Lewis? The non-responsive, ignore em and then punish em smells a lot like our CM.

Stephanie, you have stated you have met with the boss and discussed CIT training, what was that 6 months to a yr ago, what has happened since you discussed this, nothing. Get my point. They blew you off. Case in point, the latest shooting. intoxicated male wanting to commit suicide ( that is a crisis intervention), no training to help the officers evaluate the situation, no tools to assist them in subduing him other than baton, chemical spray or taser, no bag guns rubber bullet guns etc. He's dead. Lee Williams exposed a huge lie here. All kinds of procedures violated.Has anyone been disciplined NO, will they NO ! Were any of your thoughts or suggestions even considered NO. CM has a boss and that boss has a boss now do you really think anyone but the public was kept in the dark NO. It is time people realize as a police officer in North Port it is safer on the street than it is in the station. They keep up there ways and someday someone is going to snap. what do you think will happen then ? I think its referred to as going postal !!Its time for a public outcry, changes need to me made, bosses need to go and a new professional system put in place.! Save animal Control !!!!!!!

[Stephanie Gibson]

What has happened since my first requests for CIT in May 2014... I believe 6, or 7 officers have gotten the training. Met with the Chief along with the County Acute Care Task Force last week and told him that wasn't good enough. Apparently the classes are limited to 2 a year and only 3 No Po officers can take it at a time. If the reporting is correct, and 60 of the current officers have had the 40 hour CIT.. then at the current rate. we are talking a decade to get all the existing officers through. In the real world, when corporate America recognizes a need, they make it happen. If that means, Vespia and the training department contracts trainers and dedicated classes for NPPD officers.. pay the extra dollars for the classes and the OT to cover while those that need the training, get the training. I know the public sector works differently but doesn't mean we can't lead and manage a solution to the very real problem.

We have hundreds of mentally ill calls each year. In the past 12 months, the Central Florida Behavioral Health Network reported the following for the City of North Port:

Police Info:
10 Marchman Acts
246 Adult Baker Acts
--153 Adults
--93 Children/Adolescents

CFBHN
259 Adults served
9 Children

Many of which have been .. mishandled.. yet, a new want, SRT, they managed to get the funding. If they had asked for the funding for CIT and Body cameras.. I am certain the CM and Commission would grant it to him.

I spent part of this weekend listening to the budget workshop and tried to make sense of SLA2111 to see what the SRT is really about. I first thought, SWAT, then SWAT lite.. then hope that they were in part address the mental illness crisis calls.. yet, in the budget workshop the Chief was very adamant that this SRT is about the safety of officers and even mentioned ISIS. What good folks wouldn't support $$ if it means protecting our protectors lives? Vespia managed to get the 200K for the SRT, I am well aware he has not yet really heard me. He has his own agenda, just like I have mine. The Chief is going to win that battle everytime. I obviously don't know enough to call him on it. Do you? If so, it is up to each officer to reach out to the paper, the commission, FDLE .. someone.

My understanding from a conversation with Captain Morales is that 4 of the 17 members will have the specialized training to deal with the mentally ill calls. I have not seen that in writing but that is what was shared with me. Rest assured, I will hold them to it.. if only here on this ***** and my pleas to the Commissioners.

I am but one PITA voice. I will keep beating my drum until everyone has gotten the training and the RAISE that comes along with it. Maybe if we got a few dozen inside drums raising the specific issues.. we might THEN get traction to affect real change.

[Unregistered]

the Chief was very adamant that this SRT is about the safety of officers and even mentioned ISIS.

Of course the low life would use ISIS as a reason to fund his request. He is using the same fear tactics that some politicians use to get support and funding for their pet projects. The man loves to play NCIS.

Stephanie, you must get this planted firmly in your mind. Kevin is first and foremost a politician who has his own agenda and nothing else matters to him. In reality that goes for the Capt as well. Then there is the city manager, but that is another topic by it's self.
Like any good Fl. politician they will look you straight in the face and lie with out a second thought. Both of them will tell you what you want to hear, and as soon as you turn to leave, they will have forgotten who the hell you were and what the hell you were talking about because it had nothing to do with their own agenda.

Just take a look at the departments Facebook page. It is loaded with nothing but PR smiley face bullshit it feeds to the public. The only people who post there are Kevin sycophant who would wipe his ass if he told them to. You never see anyone post with anything bad or negative about the department. People know if the do they are marked. Also on the site you don't see the things like you saw and heard at the workshop. No, Kevin keeps a tight leash and that kind of stuff. He knows few people attend those meetings so very little gets spread to the public.
He has done such shit in the past and you know it. Remember when he gave the press release on the Turner case in front of the whole world at city hall? The first thing he said was at the end of his statement he was not going to take any questions.

You of all people have a damn good understanding about peoples states of mind when it comes to mental illness. Knowing that and your interaction with members of the department, does the word sociopath fit the personalities of any you have dealt with? That goes for unifromed road officers to admn.