Knight says schools must pay 100% of cost for deputies

[Unregistered]

"Now that right there is funny!" Bowden doesn't have any character to destroy. However, the sheriff should have known better than to write him a letter of recommendation. Look in the dictionary next to "Sleezy" and you will see Bowden's picture.

[Unregistered]

Sticking a non-road trained (aka inexperienced) applicant in a school with a badge and a gun is a liability issue, as well as a supervisory issue.

Before we release a recruit to be solo with a badge and a gun, he has to go through 4 months of field training, where he is observed, trained and taught how to do things ---- and he is told what not to do ---- and if he doesn't "measure up," then he is terminated from employment. Is Knight going to hire these new applicants as "School Deputies II" and forgo the field training? The plan was not thought-through and it is a high liability issue. Did Kurt Hoffman develop this knightmarish plan?

[Unregistered]

Sticking a non-road trained (aka inexperienced) applicant in a school with a badge and a gun is a liability issue, as well as a supervisory issue.Before we release a recruit to be solo with a badge and a gun, he has to go through 4 months of field training, where he is observed, trained and taught how to do things ---- and he is told what not to do ---- and if he doesn't "measure up," then he is terminated from employment. Is Knight going to hire these new applicants as "School Deputies II" and forgo the field training? The plan was not thought-through and it is a high liability issue. Did Kurt Hoffman develop this knightmarish plan?

Kurt Hoffman has never served as a full-time road patrol officer. His experience is limited to being a CCSO reserve deputy, until the last sheriff waved his magic wand and made him a ***POOF*** command staff officer. That lack of experience explains how Knight was provided with an idiotic plan to ***POOF*** instantly hire school deputies and then ***POOF*** instantly place them in schools. This is the wildest stupidest plan ever!

[Unregistered]

Kurt Hoffman has never served as a full-time road patrol officer. His experience is limited to being a CCSO reserve deputy, until the last sheriff waved his magic wand and made him a ***POOF*** command staff officer. That lack of experience explains how Knight was provided with an idiotic plan to ***POOF*** instantly hire school deputies and then ***POOF*** instantly place them in schools. This is the wildest stupidest plan ever!

Anyone can wear a uniform and carry a badge and a gun. Knight and Hoffman are proof positive of that. LOL

[Unregistered]

Before we release a recruit to be solo with a badge and a gun, he has to go through 4 months of field training, where he is observed, trained and taught how to do things ---- and he is told what not to do ---- and if he doesn't "measure up," then he is terminated from employment. Is Knight going to hire these new applicants as "School Deputies II" and forgo the field training? The plan was not thought-through and it is a high liability issue. Did Kurt Hoffman develop this knightmarish plan?

If the four months of field training is abolished, then that opens the door wide open for vicarious liability. And THAT is the elephant in the room that Knight and Hoffman never considered.

[Unregistered]

You are forgetting something that is important here. As a retired deputy who served over 20 years I have some insight on the training topic here. When I was nearing the end of my career I transferred from the road to the court services division. aka bailiffs. Many of the bailiffs had no road experience either from our agency or others. Many of the bailiffs came from the jail or right out of the academy. It is blatantly obvious which bailiffs had never been a cop. Now to address the training issue, the training is 7 weeks and that's it. Not 4 months of FTO yet we give them a badge and let them strap on a gun. They get to walk to their POV in their costume and they have that pea**** look UNTIL they get flagged down by the public. Hell some of the current supervisors in the court house are not road trained, ie jailers and have take home cars!! This mentality has ruined morale of the court deputies and it will only get worse if this same idiotic mentality continues because the kids at these schools will be at risk. It should also be noted that when knightmare took over he decimated the SRO unit. Remember Balkwill was a HUGE supporter and founder of the SRO program. We used to have twice the number of SRO's before the knightmare began. Hey Ho, Hey Ho, it's time for Knight to go!

[Unregistered]

It should also be noted that when Knight took over the agency, he decimated the SRO unit. Remember, Balkwill was a HUGE supporter and founder of the SRO program. We used to have twice the number of SRO's before the knightmare began. Hey Ho, Hey Ho, it's time for Knight to go!

When Knight got elected, he got rid of half the SSO SROs, even though the school board was paying half their salaries. That was an odd financial move. He clearly hates the job that SROs perform. So now we currently have half the number of SROs that we had (prior to Knight becoming sheriff). But since 17 kids were recently shot and killed, Knight is now being politically forced to hire more SROs, even though he thinks they are a waste of money and manpower. His new caveat is:

• Knight refuses to split the cost of SROs to protect school kids in the unincorporated county.
• Knight will now hire low quality, bottom-of-the-barrel "at will" school deputies with a yearly "at will" contract e.g. they are not guaranteed employment the next school year.
  1. At the end of the school year, when their contract expires, are they still cops?
  2. At the end of the school year, when their contract expires, do they turn in their badges and guns, since they are no longer employed by the SSO?

People are saying that for Knight, it's about money and not safety. They cite another recent experience when Knight pulled deputies out of the Clerk of Court building and then Hoffman bragged (in a memo) that we are saving money by not providing deputies to secure the Clerk of Court building. "Hoffman said that canceling security would save money" (here and here). For Knight, it's about money and not security, for both the courts, as well as for the schools.

Lastly, Knight has a problem with authority figures, which explains his publicized dissent against Caroline Zucker, Chief Judge Charles Williams and now School Superintendent Todd Bowden. Knight does not work well with others, particularly when they too are authority figures (ask Judge Williams for more information about that). Knight expects judges and other authority officials to kowtow to his every word, and if they don't, then Knight unleashes his vindictive nastiness on them, usually in public, with false allegations or false misrepresentations.

One word describes Knight: Wolf

[Media]

In an interview with the Herald-Tribune, Sheriff Tom Knight made a thinly veiled statement alleging that:

• School Superintendent Todd Bowden was to blame for Knight’s decision to stop splitting the cost of school resource officers.
• Bowden had a negative impact on Knight’s relationship with the school district.

Bowden said that Knight’s decision to stop sharing the cost would lead to a $3.1 million deficit in next year’s budget. While the state is providing about $1.3 million for school security, the total cost for school resource officers comes to about $5.1 million, leaving a $3.1 million deficit.

Bowden said that Knight and Eric Robinson jointly concocted “the public narrative” that the superintendent had been difficult to communicate with, when in reality, he had created an “open line of communication.”

Full story:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20...mber-escalates

[Unregistered]

These articles about confrontations and personalities can all be traced back to the Republican party. connect the dots of the Robinsons, Ziegler and Knight and it is quite apparent that the republican party is ganging uo to get rid of Bowden.

[Unregistered]

School Board PD will be the outcome and the SO will do major investigations just like Pinnelas,Duval,Dade counties do. The School PD will merely be a uniformed presence.