NPPD Restructure.. No LTs.. Add Police Commanders

[Unregistered]

What difference a year makes. It was about this time lat year that there were postings about how we were being treated like shit by the public. Then there was other posts telling that it was devisive and useless putting anything on this forum.

Not sure if it is karma being a ***** or just plain old fashioned hypocrisy rearing it's ugly head.

I agree the pd is changing for the worse. His majesty's antics are being exposed, almost daily. look at the K9 post 17,000 hits. People are seeing him and his staff for what they really are, self serving and untruthful. Almost every time they open their mouths or make a statement they get blasted. There is an election soon, three seats are up for grabs. I have spoken to several people interested and they agree, city management and the PD brass have to go. Most believe the vice mayor needs to be recalled, she is totally in the chiefs pocket and has turned a blind eye to the cities problems. More and more our city is turning into another ghetto and that's just not acceptable. There are more young families purchasing homes here, educated and progressive thinkers. The more that is exposed the more voters want a change. I think this coming election is going to expose that. More bad times are coming for this administration, more lawsuits, more negative exposure. The time is now, keep posting what is occurring in our city government, more and more voters are reading these posts. Don't fall for the merit less nonsense that they can find out who is posting, they cannot without a court order. Leo affairs has successfully fought and won against much larger bullies !!!! Keep posting it really does matter.

[Unregistered]

At will means just that, at will. No union protection, no returning to your original patrolman or sgt position. When he is done with you, YOUR DONE !!!, period. When the day comes that he and his crew are ousted, YOUR DONE also. So give up the security of your retirement and position in the department and take the carrot. At least the soon to be demoted Lt's can still keep their jobs, as a commander you cannot. We will hold the door for you when your let go, hmmm no on second thought, you know where the exit is. So enjoy your temporary power trip !!!!!!!!!!!

[Unregistered]

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...9584/2416/NEWS

North Port Police Department restructuring

By Michael Scott Davidson

Published: Sunday, September 20, 2015 at 1:00 a.m.
HERALD-TRIBUNE ARCHIVE / 2014
North Port Police Chief Kevin Vespia



Following advice laid out by the Center for Public Safety Management, the North Port Police Department is preparing to restructure next month.
The move will create and eliminate sworn officer positions. The department's four lieutenant positions will be defunded and replaced with a new position titled “police commanders.”
There are also plans to hire more rank-and-file officers, whose numbers are both down from this time last year and below what is budgeted for the new fiscal year.
North Port is in the final stage of hiring a new assistant chief of police, a position that's been vacant since June. City spokesman Josh Taylor said more than 40 people applied for the position. Its base salary is $78,355.
North Port has budgeted for unionized police officers to receive a 3 percent raise during the next fiscal year, city finance director Pete Lear said. He said it will be their first raise since the 2011/2012 fiscal year.
Third-party assessment
In May 2014, Police Chief Kevin Vespia recommended hiring the Center for Public Safety Management to conduct a third-party assessment of his police department.
The invite followed the suspension of two officers who were criminally charged with handcuffing and sexually assaulting a woman at a party. One killed himself as deputies came to arrest him; charges against the other officer were dropped.
The Washington, D.C.-based company published its 80-page consultant's report in October. It included 18 “major recommendations” for the department to better serve its community.
Police commanders
The most critical recommendation, according to North Port, was to abandon the police department's current “district command model” for officer management and replace it with a “temporal accountability model.”
Currently, two of the department's four lieutenants oversee patrol officers. Patrol squads are divided into two geographical districts separated by Sumter Boulevard.
But beginning Oct. 1, the lieutenants are planned to be replaced by newly hired police commanders. The police commanders will be tasked with supervisory duties in a time-based system.
Police commanders will work 12-hour shifts. Four will oversee patrol squads, one will oversee the special operations division and one will oversee the department's investigations division.
“The temporal model improves oversight and increases command presence as compared to the current district model,” Chief Vespia said. “The district model required lieutenants to work predominantly daytime and weekday hours, leaving a command level presence physically absent during the nighttime and weekends.”
Police commanders will effectively act as police chief during their shifts, Vespia said. They'll have the authority to address deployment and tactical issues. They'll also ensure management of personnel.
In total, the city has budgeted for six police commander positions. Four will be hired on Oct. 1, another will be hired by January and the last by April, with a preference for patrol commander positions to be filled first.
A civilian commander will oversee the department's telecommunications and records divisions.
“Nothing is official until commission approves the budget,” Vespia said. “However, we are working to be prepared for who will fill the positions.”
At least 45 people have applied for the police commander positions.
Among them are three of the department's current lieutenants: Edward Fitzpatrick, Gary Arsenault and Scott Smith.
Records show former Lt. Stephen Lorenz applied for a commander position, but then withdrew his application when he submitted his notice of retirement on Sept. 3. He had been with the department for about 20 years and oversaw the department's training, field training and reserve unit.
Lt. Fitzpatrick, with the department since 1993, has opted into the deferred retirement option program. He will be in the program from one to three years, and be able to draw his pension while still continuing to work.
At his actual date of retirement he will receive a lump sum payout.
Records show two other North Port Police Department employees, Det. Sgt. Jason Richter and Officer Joseph Fussell, have applied for a police commander position.
Vespia said his department strives to select police commanders that “will best serve our employees and who display the ability to mentor, lead and develop the future leaders of the department.”
“I consider the process to be fair, objective and meritorious,” he said. “And (it) takes into consideration the abilities, performance and willingness of the applicants to put forth the required efforts to develop their respective employees and hold them accountable, always ensuring we are practicing law enforcement best practices.”
Rank and file
The proposed budget for next year calls for 103 sworn officer positions, two more than the last fiscal year.
Police records show that as of August 27, 92 sworn police officers were serving with the North Port Police Department. That figure included Lt. Lorenz who has since announced his retirement.
On Sept. 9, 2014, records show the police department employed 99 sworn police officers.
Vespia said that his department is hiring more officers, but it has also maintained its minimum staffing requirements for road patrol officers.
As of two weeks ago, the police department had six open sworn officer positions: Four patrol officers, one school resource officer and one criminal investigations officer.
But there are two new patrol officer hires currently participating in field training, Vespia said.
The police department is conducting background checks on four more applicants, which typically takes at least a month to complete, he said.
Those applicants have already finished a written exam, physical abilities test and oral interview. They must still complete a lie-detector test and interview with Vespia before being hired.
In April the police department will begin searching to fill three more sworn officer positions.
The department also plans to replace one of its current police officer positions with a training sergeant, who will oversee the department's training program.
In another development, the police department and Southwest Florida Police Benevolent Association union have reached a tentative agreement that unionized officers will receive their first raises since the 2011/2012 fiscal year.
The city's finance director reports that a union agreement draft has unionized officers receiving a 3 percent raise in October 2015, 2016 and 2017.
If the agreement is approved, the unionized officers will receive a retroactive raise of 3 percent for the last fiscal year. The officers would receive a lump-sum payment for those raises.

Copyright © 2015 HeraldTribune.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only.

Hey Mr reporter did you even read the report, everything the chief stated to you was a lie. Maybe next time your will be that much smarter. here is a novel idea, why don't you actually read the entire report, I refer you to page 50 plus scheduling and staffing. Again this man lies. The report can be accessed on FB save the north port animal control post City of Northport.legistar.com

[Unregistered]

CM Watch your back. One of your boys has been talking shit about you. Things are not always what they seem. Be careful.

[Unregistered]

CM Watch your back. One of your boys has been talking shit about you. Things are not always what they seem. Be careful.

Another little rat bucking for promotion? At least you could have told him who you're trying to squeal on.

[Unregistered]

Another little rat bucking for promotion? At least you could have told him who you're trying to squeal on.

This is just to ****ing hilarious. Cops addressing other officers in similar fashion that street gang members address their questionable members.
Just shows there really is no difference between us and the communities criminal element.

[Stephanie Gibson]

So we have eliminated the managerial Lieutenant roles and replaced them with a more supervisory Police. No shared changes at the team level or Admin level, so I am assuming we identified the LT role as being the root cause of the PD issues..

We have made significant investment of time, dollars and loss of experience to implement the new structure. What are the SMART (Specific.Measureable.Achievable.Relevant.Timely) objectives that we are striving to improve with all of this investment. What is the expected Return on the Investment? I am trying to correlate the changes back to the original problems many of us were concerned about. Are the changes merely semantics and pay cuts... of course not. So what are the Specific NPPD issues that will be resolved by instituting these costly changes? How will we know when we achieved them?

-- How will the structure changes help the issues we are seeing with the K9 team.. no change in leadership that I could decipher.

-- Which changes will ensure the Explorers program is recruiting future LEOs and not using them for less honorable recruitment?

-- How will the LT / Police Commander role changes improve the morale of the officers who serve the City?

-- How will the changes affect the way we treat the mentally ill and their families?

[Unregistered]

I know of no officer in the history of this department who went from being a no rank patrol officer to a position equal to a Lt.
I don't care how many years the officers has in service.

Brownie you are a damn fool to even apply for the posistion let allown except it.
You and the city as a whole just opened up yourself to one he'll of a suit the first time a major **** up happens on your watch. I don't care how much assurance Kevin has told you that it won't happen.

[Unregistered]

Everyone needs to starting keeping notes and personal logs. Document dates times and statements to protect your own asses. This is a meltdown waiting to happen.

[Unregistered]

We now have all these new commander posistions in place with the exception of one that will be filled next April. What the he'll is up with that?
Anyway Kevin has publicly described the posistion of commander as shift chief. In essence then we have half a dozen officers doing his job 24/7.
What does that leave Kevin to do other then have more time sitting on his ever expanding ass? Then we have a new assistant chief who seems to have done nothing more then inspect the troops at the SPD.
Then we have capt Chris, what exactly will his duties and position of rank be with all these Kevin Mini - Me's running around?

One thing is for damn sure people. Administration is going to wheel out one hell of a media show when the "official ceremony" takes place.
Wonder if King is going to have his bagpipe buddies play the event?