Diversity

[Unregistered]

Florida is the next California. With this court circuit and the HCSO as ground zero. As the garbage creeps up from Miami. With APAD, JAAP, all the nol proses, all the mentally ill drug addicts on the sides of our roads in places we NEVER would have seen them even 4 years ago. Now that weed is basically legal here as of our last memo. whats next? IV user sanctuaries? Pooping on sidewalks legal? Tent cities along our roads? All for what?? Votes from these people? This liberal POS county and state needs to break off and sink into the ocean.

[Unregistered]

This is a great post.

I would like to take it a step further.

Patrol in general, even under great leadership and staffing, is miserable. It is the most dangerous, we are first on scene to handle the chaos, and we do all the managing of peoples emotions, which in my opinion, is the most mentally draining and destructive part of the job. With that said, we signed up for that, HOWEVER, it is the agencies duty to offset that factor as much as possible by reducing the exposure with a full staff and even extra deputies, remember when we used to have floater units and razor units?, to handle when people were off. Moreover, once the positions is mastered, senior officer should me moved and replaced. This is necessary in order to prevent burnout and to make this job sustainable.

We are not all running around clawing and demanding transfers and promotions for more status and power. No, many of us want that to simply get off the streets. That is not a good reason to promote or transfer.

Here is the fatal flaw with this agency. Its truly this simple. All the citizens complaints, poor moral, resignations, early retirements, mental breaks, suicides, divorce, substance abuse, and so on... it can all be prevented. It starts with patrol. Make it fun. Make it a good place to work. Keep patrol fully staffed. Everything will fall into place after.

Here is the issue. Everyone comes in and gives it 300%. They do this in hopes to shine and be noticed. Noticed in order to promote or transfer to get off patrol. They see how patrol under these conditions can not be sustained for 3 decades, so they floor it, risking burn out, and give it all they have. Once they get passed over and over and over again, they give up. Once they give up, they stop trying. Here is the kicker. Here is the HCSO mind fuk! They give up and slow things down and give it 100%. 100% is all that is required. However, here at the HCSO, thats not enough. See, thats how they cut cost and run this place with half the officers. With officers running at over capacity fueled by hope. Hope to transfer. When that doesn't happen, they give up. They stop falling for the “If you are on time, you are late” bullshiit, putting yourself and your family second to the agency for nothing. These are NOT LAZY SLUGS. These are people that now pace themselves in order to be able to maintain this career on the front lines for 3 decades. If they speak up about this paradigm, they are treated like lazy outcasts, when they work plenty hard. They just stop kissing ass or going out of their way. Kind of like what manipulative groups like scientology do to members that speak up. Same concept.

Right now a one year deputy and a 20 year deputy are all in the same. Same value. Its cheaper for them to let a 20 year senior deputy quit and replace them with a new one making half the money. Both are zero value. The only reason they give a crap about new guy quitting, under 2 years on, is only because the agency has to eat the cost of the academy and training. Not because they care.

Fix patrol and deputies wont be clawing for promotions. Fix patrol and deputies wont burn out and quit. Fix patrol to where we can enjoy this job again. Fix it to where it can not be used as a punishment. Give is more deputies, give us time at the end of the shift for reports and admin, get us he to our families on time. Bring back the 2nd shift. Citizens will notice the change.

Awesome post! Every top agency brass across the country up to the Chiefs/Sheriffs should read, comprehend, and lead by this. The writer of this post needs to be a instructor and teach command staff courses across the country. Seems some have lost their way and don't give a crap about patrol. As most of us have heard, "patrol is the backbone of this agency"... B.S. patrol is the broken backs holding up this agency... we are tired.
The people who have the "just quit" mentality you are part of the problem. There are not resumes up to the ceiling like some may claim... some of the ones who haven't quit yet are dedicated and hoping change will happen. But hope can only hold strong for so long.. so having more people quit causing more of a staffing issue is just f-in ridiculous.

[Unregistered]

Awesome post! Every top agency brass across the country up to the Chiefs/Sheriffs should read, comprehend, and lead by this. The writer of this post needs to be a instructor and teach command staff courses across the country. Seems some have lost their way and don't give a crap about patrol. As most of us have heard, "patrol is the backbone of this agency"... B.S. patrol is the broken backs holding up this agency... we are tired.
The people who have the "just quit" mentality you are part of the problem. There are not resumes up to the ceiling like some may claim... some of the ones who haven't quit yet are dedicated and hoping change will happen. But hope can only hold strong for so long.. so having more people quit causing more of a staffing issue is just f-in ridiculous.

You’re 100% right! If they can get senior deputies and front line supervisors to quit, they will! Then they fill those position[s] with incompetent little millennial snot noses or the most prevalent azz suckers in the department! What a joke. HCSO deserves what it gets!

[Unregistered]

You’re 100% right! If they can get senior deputies and front line supervisors to quit, they will! Then they fill those position[s] with incompetent little millennial snot noses or the most prevalent azz suckers in the department! What a joke. HCSO deserves what it gets!

Not sure how old you are or what generation you are but younger people will fill the rank and file. Get over it. Either adapt or get out. It doesn't end with you or the age appropriate people you approve of.

[Unregistered]

Not sure how old you are or what generation you are but younger people will fill the rank and file. Get over it. Either adapt or get out. It doesn't end with you or the age appropriate people you approve of.

You are right. But that's not a problem. The problem is these younger deputies, who have filled the ranks, are leaving. They don't stick around long enough to become seasoned patrol deputies.

There are very few, if any, seasoned patrol deputies. No one sticks around long enough to get good at the ever changing patrol position. How many seasoned patrol deputies can you think of?

I don't mean deputies who are old and started late, or who have been at the office the longest. Working another area at the office then getting sent back to patrol as punishment doesn't count.

[Unregistered]

Not sure how old you are or what generation you are but younger people will fill the rank and file. Get over it. Either adapt or get out. It doesn't end with you or the age appropriate people you approve of.

Fly for flag 🌈 beta azz sucker!

[Unregistered]

You are right. But that's not a problem. The problem is these younger deputies, who have filled the ranks, are leaving. They don't stick around long enough to become seasoned patrol deputies.

There are very few, if any, seasoned patrol deputies. No one sticks around long enough to get good at the ever changing patrol position. How many seasoned patrol deputies can you think of?

I don't mean deputies who are old and started late, or who have been at the office the longest. Working another area at the office then getting sent back to patrol as punishment doesn't count.

True. That is why there are staffing issues and retention issues across the country. There needs to be a major change in the law enforcement profession. People go into this field and find out it is not for them quicker then it took to get through the academy. It is unfortunate. Something needs to change (ex. Better pay, benefits, equipment, scheduling, less B.S. etc...) When you can literaly flip burgers for just a little less pay (then most agencies in Florida starting pay) why not go somewhere else. Agencies need to motivate and work with their staff to keep their morale up. Good morale is good for everyone to include the citizens and the agency.

[Unregistered]

True. That is why there are staffing issues and retention issues across the country. There needs to be a major change in the law enforcement profession. People go into this field and find out it is not for them quicker then it took to get through the academy. It is unfortunate. Something needs to change (ex. Better pay, benefits, equipment, scheduling, less B.S. etc...) When you can literaly flip burgers for just a little less pay (then most agencies in Florida starting pay) why not go somewhere else. Agencies need to motivate and work with their staff to keep their morale up. Good morale is good for everyone to include the citizens and the agency.

How do you keep morale up for a patrol deputy for 25-30 years? I know, let's keep them in patrol the entire time, show them that less qualified "diverse" deputies get the desired positions, strap them with a camera to criticize every step they make, demand "deescalation," send them to 4 hour investigations 30 minutes before logging off, etc., etc.

[Unregistered]

How do you keep morale up for a patrol deputy for 25-30 years? I know, let's keep them in patrol the entire time, show them that less qualified "diverse" deputies get the desired positions, strap them with a camera to criticize every step they make, demand "deescalation," send them to 4 hour investigations 30 minutes before logging off, etc., etc.

Oh i agree 100% with that! That's just a small layer of the BS!

[Unregistered]

If you don’t like it then maybe you should quit. Ps nobody gives a sh!t what you like or what you think.