To All Pinecrest Officers: I have worked with many of you in the past and can tell you that you are some of the most professional and stand-up people I have ever known. We are friends, I have been to your homes (and you to mine) and I know your families, kids' names, etc. I would take a bullet for any one of you without a second thought....With that being said, if you haven't put in an application to every single decent agency in the tri-county area, then you are hurting yourself and your family by remaining at that awful, awful place.

How can you work there for more than 3 years and not think to yourself, "Boy, my family and I would sure be a lot better off with the benefits every other agency has in place already.", ???

Here are the facts about Pinecrest PD:
* No Pension or plans to ever have one.
* No Union representation/binding arbitration.
* No job security (aka "At-will employment")
* The pay is on the low end of the spectrum now.
* No take-home car program. ($3.20 a gallon now guys!)
* Medical/Dental/Insurance are subpar.
* Continual low morale across the board.
* Outside promotions.
* Constant "Witch-hunts" conducted followed by silly write-ups.
* The Chief, Admin and City Manager have all been voted several years in a row "THE WORST" by the Dade County PBA.
* How many officers have come and gone in the 10 years since incorporation? (Now compare to other agencies' turn-over rate within the same time frame) The Admin and city manager should all bow their heads down in disgrace as this statistic reflects their failure to properly administer the agency. As of two years ago, it was the HIGHEST turnover rate in all of South Florida. "Shameful" to say the least, yet they do nothing about it nor do they show they even care to address it....but hey, the tax rate for the residents is still really, really low! Woo hoo!

I can go on and on but most of you know these issues exist already. The question is my friends, WHAT DO YOU PLAN ON DOING ABOUT IT ?
You have three options:
1. Apply elsewhere and leave. (Cross your fingers your file isn't loaded)
2. Stick it out and hope the city manager leaves sometime soon (along with most of the brass) and that they are replaced by professionals.
3. Grow some cojones and start talking to some Unions.

Now the third option is a risky one, believe me I know, but if you plan on making the Village your home-away-from-home for the next 30 years (remember, you dont have a pension so you cant retire 10 years sooner) then you need to protect yourselves. Every day that goes by where you don't have a strong police union behind you is another day you risk your entire future working for people who could care less about you or your family and who will fire you without blinking an eye. (Don't think it will never happen to you.)
The absolute WORST nightmare the Admin and city manager could dream up is to have a union in place. Why? Well because their "absolute power" will be called to the carpet, made public and they will not get away with 1/10th of what they have gotten away with up to this point.

My friends, so many of us have left because of the same problems/issues I mentioned above. With the exception of one or two people that I can think of, EVERYONE is doing a whole lot better in their new agency or other line of work. That's no coincidence. This is a result of going from working at the worst agency in south Florida to working someplace else...basically, everywhere is better than there.
Please do not take this as an insult to any of you personally or professionally. It's not the rank-and-file officers at the Village that are the problem....we all know where the cancer lies.

Call a union....you can do it anonymously is you feel necessary.

Dade County PBA: 305-593-0044

FOP: Vist www.floridastatefop.org

IUPA: (International Union of Police) Visit www.iupa.org
(North Miami Beach PD went with this union a few years back and are very happy with it!)

Teamsters Union: Visit www.teamster.org

Until next time, stay safe out there!