Puzzle me this..

[Stephanie Gibson]

So I finally received the PD Staffing roster, and I see we have lotsa Detectives.. maybe some of you can help me solve the following:


Puzzle 1 expanding headcount when we can NOT fulfill current Staffing needs...

1. We currently have 21 open positions at PD. 17 Sworn and 4 unsworn. We really have 8 additonal vacancies as these are the cadets in school and not yet patrolling. Not sure how long Field training is but clearly there are months before these new officers will be able to provide relief. So why are we adding positions when we know damn well we cannot fill the gaping holes we have now?

Attachment 287

2. In reviewing the SLAs for the upcoming budget, I find that PD is requesting and additonal 11.5 FTEs. for FY 19
- 1 Application System Administrator
- 4 Officers for West Villages
- 4 Officers for Traffic Unit
- 2 911 Operators
-.5 Victim Advocate



Can someone help me understand why we are adding headcount when we cant manage to fill the slots we have now? Further, can anyone tell me the last time PD had full staffing?

I keep trying to reconcile it back to the PD OT and how this layers in.. do we want to have all that excess monies in the budget so that we can payout OT.. something is fishy here and I cannot seem to figure it out.

Puzzle 2 is the shopping frenzy of Vehicles..

We currently have 103 Approved positions yet we have purchased 119 vehicles in 2015 2016 2017 and 2018 to the tune of $2.9 million. FY 19 we are requesting another 14 vehicles to the tune of $1.3 million. How are we wearing out these cars so quickly? I usually get 5 or 6 years before I need to replace mine and all I do is change the oil. At the is risk of a bad assumption, Fleet is maintaining the PD vehicles on a scheduled basis right? So how it is we have to replace em so quickly? (I know we left yall in the Crown Vic for way too long but criminey.. these SUV boyz toyz cant take the punishment of driving around town?

[Unregistered]

We are still replacing all the old vehicles, since we went six years without new replacements.

[Unregistered]

I saw a guy last night that still had fuzz behind his ears driving a brand new SUV. I just shook my head as I remember waiting for almost a year for a take home car and the one I got was a total POS when it was issued to me. Why were we able to do so much with so little back then? We did crazy things like share cars, hand write reports, hell we didn't even have ear phones. Cars should not be replaced until that are over 170,000 miles period and we need to buy the cheapest cars available! The cars are disposable. Like a drill battery!

[Unregistered]

I saw a guy last night that still had fuzz behind his ears driving a brand new SUV. I just shook my head as I remember waiting for almost a year for a take home car and the one I got was a total POS when it was issued to me. Why were we able to do so much with so little back then? We did crazy things like share cars, hand write reports, hell we didn't even have ear phones. Cars should not be replaced until that are over 170,000 miles period and we need to buy the cheapest cars available! The cars are disposable. Like a drill battery!

Because you still live in the past. Vehicles today are not the same back when you were a cop. Oh and The officer with the fuzz behind his ear, he is protecting the citizens of North Port including you so instead of shaking your head at him, thank him.

No vehicle should EVER be kept for 170,000 miles EVER! With the amount of wear and tear we put on our vehicles they should be replaced every five years. Just because what was done in the past doesn't mean it was right.
The Crown Vics we just got rid of had 100,000 to 140,000 and they were dropping like flies. Our vehicles need to work everytime we turn the key. We depend on it. The SUVs are the vehicles of today's world especially with all the equipment and technology that they keep putting in our vehicles so that we can do our job effectively. I applaud our city for creating a rotation plan for our first responder vehicles.

[Unregistered]

I saw a guy last night that still had fuzz behind his ears driving a brand new SUV. I just shook my head as I remember waiting for almost a year for a take home car and the one I got was a total POS when it was issued to me. Why were we able to do so much with so little back then? We did crazy things like share cars, hand write reports, hell we didn't even have ear phones. Cars should not be replaced until that are over 170,000 miles period and we need to buy the cheapest cars available! The cars are disposable. Like a drill battery!

You obviously never served in management or maybe been a cop a long time ago because what you say makes no sense. As a vehicle as ages, repair bill go up. Secondly resale value goes down. SUV police vehicles are commanding a much higher return at auction than the old traditional police vehicle. The Indianapolis plan has been studied over and over and has been proven to cost savings. Vehicles assigned to one officer have a better life span than those that are shared. The cars are not only taken better care of, but those that cause damage or neglect their assigned vehicle can be easily identified vs pool cars. Most major agencies have a policy of end of life for patrol vehicles of 100,000 miles or less. Go read some of the studies.

[Unregistered]

Why even waste your breathe trying to explain anything to the poster? But I will say this Patrol cars aren’t your Kia that you drive back and forth to the drive thru window to get food.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, LEO affairs needs to validate members and make this site for LEOs only to discuss LEO business.

[Stephanie Gibson]

Why even waste your breathe trying to explain anything to the poster? But I will say this Patrol cars aren’t your Kia that you drive back and forth to the drive thru window to get food.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, LEO affairs needs to validate members and make this site for LEOs only to discuss LEO business.

Yes, Leoaffairs should change their model because of those inconvenient voices asking questions and shining light. I am sure they will jump when you ask. Clearly you miss the entire point.. go read. I mean yall can talk to one another anyday. Isnt the entire point to have a broader conversation to include the public?

Rather than getting your panties bunched up, maybe you simply explain how/why we are buying more vehicles than we have staffing. How FY18 cars that were being replaced are now being requested to keep? If they were so bad that they had to be replaced this FY yet now that we got the replacement vehicles, we want to keep 6 units. It causes one to question what is going on. How do the vehicles of the separated officers fall apart sitting in the parking lot? or explain why we should spend 200K on an armored vehicle when we had to call SSO in exactly #ONCE in 4 years.. When you see this being pitched as an immediate need and realize it clearly is NOT.. it makes one look deeper.

Simply make your case as to why it is needed.. getting those paying the bill on board is kinda how it works. There are many out there that would like to eliminate take home cars. I sure as hell will fight for PD to have everything it needs but if you think the days of blank checks and blind trust for shiney toy du jour will continue, you are wrong.

I will add, you sound frighteningly like DiFranco.. she made the very same suggestion to my employer. She is or should be preparing to defend herself with the Ethics Commission. Noone here is intimidated by Gargoyles...

[Unregistered]

I saw a guy last night that still had fuzz behind his ears driving a brand new SUV. I just shook my head as I remember waiting for almost a year for a take home car and the one I got was a total POS when it was issued to me. Why were we able to do so much with so little back then? We did crazy things like share cars, hand write reports, hell we didn't even have ear phones. Cars should not be replaced until that are over 170,000 miles period and we need to buy the cheapest cars available! The cars are disposable. Like a drill battery!

Times they are a changing. Cities are opting out of the take home vehicles and instead assigning cars to shifts. Venice does it and soon some other cities will do the same. Instead of having 119 cars we would have half of that. This would be a huge inconvenience to the employees, but hey, they just got a huge raise. They would just have to get used to it. Worked in a dept that had shared vehicles, you learn to live with it. The savings to the taxpayers would be in the millions. So bit#h, cry, moan and carry on that car your taking back and forth is a benefit we can no longer afford. Here's a novel idea, how about either fixing up the cellblock so it can be used or omg buying a prisoner transport veh aka paddy wagon, staff with an on shift officer for transport to the jail and free up the cars from having to take the two jaunt to SCCO, wait will never happen, makes to much sense.

[Unregistered]

You have no idea what you are talking about.

Times they are a changing. Cities are opting out of the take home vehicles and instead assigning cars to shifts. Venice does it and soon some other cities will do the same. Instead of having 119 cars we would have half of that. This would be a huge inconvenience to the employees, but hey, they just got a huge raise. They would just have to get used to it. Worked in a dept that had shared vehicles, you learn to live with it. The savings to the taxpayers would be in the millions. So bit#h, cry, moan and carry on that car your taking back and forth is a benefit we can no longer afford. Here's a novel idea, how about either fixing up the cellblock so it can be used or omg buying a prisoner transport veh aka paddy wagon, staff with an on shift officer for transport to the jail and free up the cars from having to take the two jaunt to SCCO, wait will never happen, makes to much sense.

[Unregistered]

You have no idea what you are talking about.

good reply. so a new vehicle issued to EVERY officer and detective and admin , this is not a benefit, right. It does not take at least two hours to transport and process at the county jail. Which one is not knowing what I am talking about ????????