Where's a Deputy ?????

I drive for a living and have no violations on my driving record. I moved to West Pasco County a few years ago and have never seen such a total disregard for traffic laws. People in this county are lucky to get from point A to point B, without getting run over by either speeder's, red light runner's, stop sign runner's or reckless drivers. Drug transactions go on in the parking lots of malls and shopping center's on a daily basis. If the average citizen can see these things, why can't the deputies? It seems that enforcement has been lacking for so long that no one is afraid of being caught. When you see traffic laws broken that could injure or kill someone and a deputies cruiser sitting there at the intersection and he does nothing; it makes me wonder. I personally witnessed a vehicle run a red light at an intersection and a deputy sitting at the intersection with a plate of spaghetti in a tin carry-out sitting on his belly; and he did nothing! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to stop a car and write adamn ticket! It does however take a willingness to do your job.

Dear Concerned Citizen,

Yes we at Pasco agree that this is a problem. It is a deep issue that has been going on for several years. Actually at least seven years.

Let me educate you.

The sheriff had a policy of doing more with less. Which essentially meant that we had less deputies on the street. It wasn't until about a year ago when the deputies brought this to the county commissioners attention. The fact that he was hiding money and failed to hire deputies. To rectify this, the sheriff hired over 70 deputies. Problem is, we are still out numbered because he also had a policy of "Courting the Prom Queen".

This essentially was a system where if he needed 20 deputies, he asked for 5. This way he kept the county commissioners on his side. Then when things got out of control, he asked for 106 deputies during a budget crunch, and the county commissioners told him that they were in the process of cutting funding. So his plan failed and you are seeing the repercussions of his decision making.

As for drug dealing. We see them as well. We tried to do search warrants, but the sheriffs policy was to "Avoid conflict" So drug dealers flourished and now it is out of control.

We have more gangs then ever.

More drug houses then ever.

more drive bys then ever.

A spike in Home Invasions and

The highest Murder Rate in the Tampa Bay Area.

So My suggestion is to either move or

Elect another Sheriff.

Good luck and please be careful out there.

[Yakuza.]

I personally witnessed a vehicle run a red light at an intersection and a deputy sitting at the intersection with a plate of spaghetti in a tin carry-out sitting on his belly; and he did nothing!

Dude, we're talking Chef-Boy-R-Dee.....would you put down a tin can of the Chef's greatness?

All kinding aside, our guys on the road are crazy busy...so busy, we need to multi-task during the 12 hour shifts....and that means, eating on the way to calls (probably not the safest thing to do, but at least he waited to stop at a red light to eat).

The truth is, many times we are sent priority calls, and while en route, we'll see a traffic violation, however, we need to prioritize (basically, the traffic violator will get a freebee that day). Would you prefer a cop stop responding to your call for help so he/she could stop a traffic violator and issue a citation.......I think not.

If you were close enough to see that the deputy was eating spaghetti, and not ravioli or pizza, in a TIN take out container, then why did you not stop and ask them this question yourself? We are approachable you know.
As for "Running a red light" what a Citizen constitutes as running a red light, the law does not. (i.e. where were the vehicle's tire's positioned). As for drug transactions in parking lots, Search and Seizure laws dictate what action a deputy can take. Just because hands touch, doesn't mean a deputy can walk up and search them or ask their information (Civil Rights violation). As for speeders, very few of us are Radar certified from an 80 hour class, due to the lack of $. So what you THINK you might see, the law may not allow us to take action. I will enforce the law within the law's limits.

I drive for a living and have no violations on my driving record. I moved to West Pasco County a few years ago and have never seen such a total disregard for traffic laws. People in this county are lucky to get from point A to point B, without getting run over by either speeder's, red light runner's, stop sign runner's or reckless drivers. Drug transactions go on in the parking lots of malls and shopping center's on a daily basis. If the average citizen can see these things, why can't the deputies? It seems that enforcement has been lacking for so long that no one is afraid of being caught. When you see traffic laws broken that could injure or kill someone and a deputies cruiser sitting there at the intersection and he does nothing; it makes me wonder. I personally witnessed a vehicle run a red light at an intersection and a deputy sitting at the intersection with a plate of spaghetti in a tin carry-out sitting on his belly; and he did nothing! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to stop a car and write adamn ticket! It does however take a willingness to do your job.

I totally agree with both previous posters. I too am a citizen that has witnessed many law breaking incidents, not just traffic. However, the other poster was right, that deputies are out there, but they are stretched to the limit, with numerous calls that they have to prioritize. They are understaffed, overworked, and in my opinion, underpayed! Bob White has tied their hands in a lot of situations and made their jobs miserable. As the previous poster stated, if you want to see change, elect another sheriff. Get Bob White out of there!

Dear citizen, rest assured our jail is fully manned and ready. We have the largest amount of "deputies" in the agencey. While the road is short staffed to almost the same manning levels from 10 years ago we have benefited in getting more man power than we actually need, in fact we also get the benefit of earning overtime where our patrol counterpart works routinely past the end of his/her shift and does not get paid for it.

I don't agree with the situation buy hey I am happy and I never miss a meal.

Dear citizen, rest assured our jail is fully manned and ready. We have the largest amount of "deputies" in the agencey. While the road is short staffed to almost the same manning levels from 10 years ago we have benefited in getting more man power than we actually need, in fact we also get the benefit of earning overtime where our patrol counterpart works routinely past the end of his/her shift and does not get paid for it.

I don't agree with the situation buy hey I am happy and I never miss a meal.

Most of the jail guards appear as though they never miss a meal!

[fldeputy]

Concerned Citizen,
You raise valid concerns but I recommend that you schedule a ride-along, one shift with some of the deputies which work your neighborhood. I think you might find it interesting and educational. You'd be surprised on call volume and in Pasco County. But you may find answers to alot of the questions you mentioned. Bring lunch with you cause you may not get a break.

Dear Concerned Citizen,

Yes we at Pasco agree that this is a problem. It is a deep issue that has been going on for several years. Actually at least seven years.

Let me educate you.

The sheriff had a policy of doing more with less. Which essentially meant that we had less deputies on the street. It wasn't until about a year ago when the deputies brought this to the county commissioners attention. The fact that he was hiding money and failed to hire deputies. To rectify this, the sheriff hired over 70 deputies. Problem is, we are still out numbered because he also had a policy of "Courting the Prom Queen".

This essentially was a system where if he needed 20 deputies, he asked for 5. This way he kept the county commissioners on his side. Then when things got out of control, he asked for 106 deputies during a budget crunch, and the county commissioners told him that they were in the process of cutting funding. So his plan failed and you are seeing the repercussions of his decision making.

As for drug dealing. We see them as well. We tried to do search warrants, but the sheriffs policy was to "Avoid conflict" So drug dealers flourished and now it is out of control.

We have more gangs then ever.

More drug houses then ever.

more drive bys then ever.

A spike in Home Invasions and

The highest Murder Rate in the Tampa Bay Area.

So My suggestion is to either move or

Elect another Sheriff.

Good luck and please be careful out there.

READ THIS IT IS VALID AND ACCURATE

Dear citizen, rest assured our jail is fully manned and ready. We have the largest amount of "deputies" in the agencey. While the road is short staffed to almost the same manning levels from 10 years ago we have benefited in getting more man power than we actually need, in fact we also get the benefit of earning overtime where our patrol counterpart works routinely past the end of his/her shift and does not get paid for it.

I don't agree with the situation buy hey I am happy and I never miss a meal.

If you are FULLY MANNED, then why are you working overtime????