Soar tsdr

[Unregistered]

This program is full of problems. It was created to augment road staffing and to have more units available. As long as you are visible to the public and not sitting at home or a restaurant, you should be within the guidelines. Somehow, the brass made it into a quota program. The TSDR is proof of the quota and the push to write tickets. Its a program created in good faith and turned into an illegal quota to augment FHP's numbers.

^^This issue was brought up in a legislative committee in 2010 under Colonel Czernis Adminstration. The answer then, as it is now, is the difference between "contacts" and "citations". The anti-quota law only addresses [i]citations/i] and not contacts. Administration can require a certain level of contacts as long as they don't require those contacts to be UTCs. What brought down Thomas and Welch was the requirement of UTCs


(Side comment: Lieutenant Colonel Thomas and Major Welch are both forced into retirement due to the Troop H quota scandal....how did Chief Mark Welch get away clean when he was the subordinate of one of those officers and the supervisor of the other? How does above and below him both get caught up but he doesn't? It doesn't make any sense, but then again this is the same patrol that promoted Hildreth from Captain to Lieutenant Colonel over Patrol Operations despite the highest rank she held in Patrol Operations being Sergeant for a very short period of time--and the same patrol that promoted Gourley to Captain, Major and then Chief despite him being the Lieutenant TWC the night of the I-75 diaster and who was warned by a Sergeant to close the road.....and, who allowed that same Sergeant and multiple Troopers to be eating at Perkins instead of patrolling the interstate and reporting on the deteriorating conditions/visibility.)

[Unregistered]

^^This issue was brought up in a legislative committee in 2010 under Colonel Czernis Adminstration. The answer then, as it is now, is the difference between "contacts" and "citations". The anti-quota law only addresses [i]citations/i] and not contacts. Administration can require a certain level of contacts as long as they don't require those contacts to be UTCs. What brought down Thomas and Welch was the requirement of UTCs


(Side comment: Lieutenant Colonel Thomas and Major Welch are both forced into retirement due to the Troop H quota scandal....how did Chief Mark Welch get away clean when he was the subordinate of one of those officers and the supervisor of the other? How does above and below him both get caught up but he doesn't? It doesn't make any sense, but then again this is the same patrol that promoted Hildreth from Captain to Lieutenant Colonel over Patrol Operations despite the highest rank she held in Patrol Operations being Sergeant for a very short period of time--and the same patrol that promoted Gourley to Captain, Major and then Chief despite him being the Lieutenant TWC the night of the I-75 diaster and who was warned by a Sergeant to close the road.....and, who allowed that same Sergeant and multiple Troopers to be eating at Perkins instead of patrolling the interstate and reporting on the deteriorating conditions/visibility.)

I see your point and agree with you. Now, try to turn in a SOAR report with plenty of stops and only warnings. Not 1 citation in 8 hrs, just warnings, and see what happens.

[Old crusty]

For anyone from the public reading this. Soar is a program that lets troopers do proactive enforcement and earn time and half overtime. That money even goes towards their retirement. Up to 8 hours a week.

So the people complaining about the tsdr/having to prove to their supervisor they stopped cars is mad because they are being held accountable for the taxpayer money. The department wants them to use the time to proactively enforce the countless violations on the highways, but it appears there are troopers that feel they should get their time and half for doing nothing.

And that is just one of many reasons this place has going down the tubes. Many have zero work ethic and don’t realize the nice opportunity the department still gives you to earn extra money (that goes to retirement) but instead will screw ot up for everyone.

[Unregistered]

For anyone from the public reading this. Soar is a program that lets troopers do proactive enforcement and earn time and half overtime. That money even goes towards their retirement. Up to 8 hours a week.

So the people complaining about the tsdr/having to prove to their supervisor they stopped cars is mad because they are being held accountable for the taxpayer money. The department wants them to use the time to proactively enforce the countless violations on the highways, but it appears there are troopers that feel they should get their time and half for doing nothing.

And that is just one of many reasons this place has going down the tubes. Many have zero work ethic and don’t realize the nice opportunity the department still gives you to earn extra money (that goes to retirement) but instead will screw ot up for everyone.

So you are affirming the original point. SOAR is a program that requires you to stop cars and write tickets. Its not a program designed to augment road staffing and make sure we are visible and ready to respond to events. Yes, part of your job is to be proactive, but forcing someone to stop cars is unethical. What an idiot you are.

Its dirty money if you ask me, you are faulting the public so you can meet your quota. Stacking people with tickets (tail light out, address on registrations, etc etc) is just wrong. I hope the legislators see this one day and find someone accountable. Keep your OT. If the patrol would pay a decent salary, then they wouldn't force you to work SOAR. Yes, many troopers are forced to work SOAR and comply with the quota if they want to feed their families.

[Unregistered]

Please public, if you are reading this. Do a public record request and ask for SOAR paperwork to include the TSDR and comments written on it. You can start with the Ft Myers district. Then ask if Troopers are required to write tickets or stop cars every 30 minutes, but don't ask anyone with shiny stuff on their uniforms. Ask the road Troopers, they will speak the truth.

[Dusty Rhodes]

So you think you should get paid time and a half to sit and be visible? No traffic enforcement , nothing? Just sit and be pretty for time and a half? Because all I’m reading is that your poor little self that volunteered to work SOAR, which nobody forces you to work. You want to be paid time and a half to sit and do nothing. Tell the public that, let them know that you feel it’s illegal to ask you to work, that’s it’s illegal to ask you to stop a violation, that you feel you should sit and be visible only for time and a half. Once again in a program you volunteer to work at time and a half.

[Unregistered]

So you think you should get paid time and a half to sit and be visible? No traffic enforcement , nothing? Just sit and be pretty for time and a half? Because all I’m reading is that your poor little self that volunteered to work SOAR, which nobody forces you to work. You want to be paid time and a half to sit and do nothing. Tell the public that, let them know that you feel it’s illegal to ask you to work, that’s it’s illegal to ask you to stop a violation, that you feel you should sit and be visible only for time and a half. Once again in a program you volunteer to work at time and a half.

I will tell the public that because I can't feed my family I need to work time and half. And now Mr Public is getting a few tickets so I can get my time and half. Im sure they will be real happy when I tell them that I spent the last 29 minutes without stopping a car, and now I need to stack him with a few tickets. I only use the companion citation tab when Im on SOAR. It has to look good on that TSDR.

Please don't suspend me from working SOAR. I will write my two an hr.

[Unregistered]

So this is why I see Troopers in my county hustling looking for those violations. I saw one the other day that couldn't stay still, just looking for someone to write a ticket. He told me he had to, he was working overtime. Men that sounds like a quota to me. Not even camouflaged. I can't believe you guys actually do that.

[Old crusty]

Umm yes it is a program to stop violations...because traffic enforcement is the leading way to be proactive. Most places of the state would thank you for working crashers if they are holding. Soar can offset the shortages around the state where nobody can be proactive.

However what i am hearing is that you don’t want to do anything on soar. Basically you are asked to do your job of proactive traffic enforcement...shocking. They give you the clothes to wear, the car to drive from your driveway, all the gas you can burn, a computer to make all paperwork easier to complete, no roll call, tons of freeedom, lots of training, in this case pay you OT, etc.they just ask you to do your job. Not many jobs out there are like that...but keep complaining.

Write warnings if you want. It’s probably a good idea so you don’t further embarrass the department with your inability to testify in court. God forbid it is anything but a request for a withhold. Most of the present day Troopers would get smoked by the most basic trial resistance. Uniforms looking like they slept in and not having the most basic idea of how to present a case.

So keep complaining , keep making your tik tok videos, and keep looking for a job elsewhere where you will be happier. You aren’t the first and you won’t be the last to cry about your basic job functions. Any career is what you make of it. If you don’t like traffic, that’s ok! But don’t stay and be one of the constantly negative people that fills the ranks.

Yes pay sucks. Yea some supervisors are morons. Yes some portions of the public hate law enforcement. Blah blah...same argument for decades.

But everyday you have a chance everyday to have positive interactions , whether on traffic stops, at a restaurant, gas pumps, etc. talk to people and do not just be a robot. The public knows what your job is...they just want you to be a professional while doing it.

Side note for the poster above, if you are aware of someone that loads up people on stops...you should call them out. Anyone that writes multiple citations on a basic stop like four window tint tickets, is a turd. It makes the department look bad, it is unnecessary, and is a reflection of their laziness to press a companion button instead of finding other violators. .

No matter what, stay safe.

Proceed with the bashing and complaining, but just realize when you do your basic job function at this place, you come off as a hero because you are surrounded by so many lazy complainers.

[Unregistered]

"Side note for the poster above, if you are aware of someone that loads up people on stops...you should call them out. Anyone that writes multiple citations on a basic stop like four window tint tickets, is a turd. It makes the department look bad, it is unnecessary, and is a reflection of their laziness to press a companion button instead of finding other violators. ."

Funny! We have a few of these "load everyone" troopers in our troop. This is a practice which is encouraged by FHP leadership! I have seen countless troopers harassed for not issuing the two citations per hour, however they have a ton of warnings and equipment notices. Some even called on the carpet for catching holding crashes! I have, however not ONCE seen or heard of the FHP leadership calling a "load everyone" trooper in and tell them to stop loading the motoring public! The leadership just smiles when they sign and submit the SOAR paperwork! Laziness isn't not issuing two citations an hour. Laziness is the trooper set up in some honey hole away from the high crash areas issuing everyone in the vehicle a seatbelt citation along with registration and DL violations while the two troopers in any given high crash county are running crash from crash and the public waits hours just so the SOAR form is up to par! Driving out of the way around a crash just like out Lt's and Capt's!