INDEPENDENCE DAY FOR ALL TAMPA POLICE OFFICERS

[Greg Stout]

July 4, 2007

To All Members of the Tampa Police Department and West Central Florida PBA:

I recently wrote a letter based on accurate information that I received from Corporal Pat Lynch’s post on LEOAFFAIRS.COM. Corporal Lynch attended a June Charter Board meeting of the PBA and became aware for the first time that the Board of Directors was preparing to hand tailor a position for Kevin Durkin to slide into when he retired from TPD. The new position is called “Executive Director.” No one is sure what the job is because there is no job description for it. What is known is that it will be a five year contract between the PBA and Kevin Durkin and it will pay Senior Detective salary. In that same meeting, the board also nominated several people for a Life Membership into the PBA. They have explained that the title is a harmless one, which merely recognizes the work of past board members. What they failed to explain was that this “title,” comes with a provision that a Life Member can hold office at the PBA as a retiree, continuing their dynasty for as long as they can keep their board voting the way they want them to.

Luckily for us all, Pat could not keep that kind of information a secret as the Board of Directors planned. When he spread the word I sought him out to verify the information. It was all true. I launched a plan to stop this scheme because it smacks of cronyism. If we subscribe to the idea that the PBA needs an Executive Director, then what reasoning can they possibly give to simply anoint Kevin Durkin to that post without at least looking for a more qualified candidate?

I posted a letter on LEOAFFAIRS asking any Tampa Police Officer to send an E-Mail to the board voicing their objection to the Executive Director Plan. Over one hundred of us did. At the June PBA Board meeting over thirty-five of us came in person to voice our displeasure to the board. They heard us, thanked us, and then voted for the Executive Director Position and the Life Memberships. In my book it was their final act of arrogance. We simply cannot allow them to do what they want, when they want, without our consent.

As of today, a group of eleven Tampa Police Officers have stood up to say no more! Our group intends to run for election to eleven of the open positions on the Tampa Police Chapter Board scheduled in September.

Who are we? What is our platform? What will we do? Turn your web browser to:

http://www.takebackyourpba.com

And see for your self! You will see all eleven of us in person very shortly. Let’s make this election a record turnout so we can give them the final vote!

Thank you,

Greg Stout

Greg,

Thanks for taking the lead on this. I was totally shocked about the structure of the PBA when I found out this week.

How one agency gets divided into two chapters, and given double the voting power is beyond me. Must be nice, less members of any chapter, control of 50% of the PBA and dues 45% less. Are they that desperate for deputies to join the PBA?

I totally support you and your board nominees. Great website.

Does anyone know if we would have any legal standing in litigation on the due rates established at the PBA. They are charging different prices for the same thing. They claim it is based on pay, but I'm sure there are "many" TPD members who make less than HCSO members.

Greg,

Did you or did you not vote to set up this very system of Charter and Chapters?

Did you or did you not vote for HCSO to have two seperate chapters?
THus giving them control of the charter board?

I have a hard time supporting you when you were one of the ones who set this up. Tell us why we should trust you now?

In your site, you say you will come to roll calls.....why didnt you do that when you were the VP?

What is different now?

I support MOST of the people on your 11 man bard but not you or your son.

MEMBER

Greg,

Did you or did you not vote to set up this very system of Charter and Chapters?

Did you or did you not vote for HCSO to have two seperate chapters?
THus giving them control of the charter board?

I have a hard time supporting you when you were one of the ones who set this up. Tell us why we should trust you now?

In your site, you say you will come to roll calls.....why didnt you do that when you were the VP?

What is different now?

I support MOST of the people on your 11 man bard but not you or your son.

MEMBER

[Ray Green]

Greg,

Yes, I find this all very interesting!! Why now? Why you? Why those 11?

I would like to hear what you have to say and although your web site is impressive I want to hear it from you and your board in person.

When can we expect you to be coming out to the roll calls and talking to us?

I know most of the people on your board and have worked side by side with some of them. They are all good people and I support them.

Yes, even you and your son.

Keep up the good work and keep us informed!

Tks,
Ray

First of all thanks Ray for your support! Our time on SAC together was one of my most enjoyable experiences thus far.

Member, I am sorry that you do not feel me worthy of your support, and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. I only hope that you know me, and know where I stand on issues that I think are probably important to the both of us.

If there is any specifc topic you care to discuss with me that might make me more aware of your concerns or you would like to discuss my concerns please feel free to ask me. I am on B cycle in District III. I work from 0700 until 1830 hours.

Be Safe!

Mike

Greg,

Did you or did you not vote to set up this very system of Charter and Chapters?

Did you or did you not vote for HCSO to have two seperate chapters?
THus giving them control of the charter board?

I have a hard time supporting you when you were one of the ones who set this up. Tell us why we should trust you now?

In your site, you say you will come to roll calls.....why didnt you do that when you were the VP?

What is different now?

I support MOST of the people on your 11 man bard but not you or your son.

MEMBER


I like how you bash Greg and his son who are trying to change things for the better. You must be on the board already and are getting worried about the future of your position. I will vote for as many of the people on their site as I can. Anyone can identify problems, few take the time to fix them. Maybe you should step up too.

By the way, I have worked with Mike Stout and I bet he is a better officer and cares more about TPD than you will ever give him credit for.

[Greg Stout]

Dear Member:

I have read your questions and responded to them in full at

www.takebackyourpba.com (http://www.takebackyourpba.com)

It is in the "Get Involved," area under the "Tell Us How You Feel," area.

Thank you

Greg Stout

"Politics is the art of controlling your environment." H.S.T.

Somewhere around one thousand trained investigators and most of you don’t see what is going on. Some of you play checkers, she plays chess.

It is easy for people to bash not only Greg and Mike but anyone that is on board with this, because they are standing up for what they feel is right for everyone, not just themselves. They have laid everything out perfectly in their website and have stated that they will be attending roll calls. I'm sure the reason Greg didnt attend roll calls when he was VP was because it wasnt his responsiblity, number one, and number two have you known Kevin to attend regular roll calls or even care what anyone had to say? Because I sure haven't seen that from him.

"Not his responsibility"

What? Whose was it?

I agree we need change. But I dont see where he (Stout) is a change. He was part of the group that got us into this mess, and admits on his site.

I intend to vote for many members listed on his site. However, not him. He had his chance on the board and I have yet to see ONE thing he claims he got done when he was there for 9 years.

VOTE GILKEY for President!

No it was NOT his responsibility, he was assigned to D3. So unless that is where you were assigned he probably was not at your roll calls.

Why don't you go to takebackyourpba.com on the message boards where he posted a reply and answered a lot of questions that we're asked of him?

Not his responsibility"

What? Whose was it?

I agree we need change. But I dont see where he (Stout) is a change. He was part of the group that got us into this mess, and admits on his site.

I intend to vote for many members listed on his site. However, not him. He had his chance on the board and I have yet to see ONE thing he claims he got done when he was there for 9 years.

VOTE GILKEY for President!


Typical, You sit around and do nothing, you have no solution, and attack the one person who took the lead to do something. So who are you, what is your plan, when will we see it

The more I read from be truthful the more I become aware of several things...

The first being that he must be a member of the current board my guess is one that was appointed and not elected... hmmmm . this one I'm almost sure of. and I think this outing might just shut him up

The second is that with spelling as bad as his he must have been promoted at least once here lol

I worked in District III when Greg Stout was a v.p. I was not on a special squad, or a detective, or anything else, just a street squad and I was just a street officer... and I saw him quite often, never hesitated to ask a question and always got a prompt and fair answer.... Also I do pay a little attention and I voted for him everytime he was up for election, and I know that he was not on the board for nine years, my guess would be more like three but good job truthful, I can only hope that your alot like Gilkey and one day wil leave this agency which could only make it a better place to work

SAD

I am happy to see that TPD members are more vocal about the shenanigans going on with our PBA. If you are like me, you lost your trust in the current board because of their actions. It was a gradual thing for me because I voted for this board, and believed in what they said about themselves.

Now, my belief is replaced with disbelief. I guess I was a little slow. The final nail in the coffin of "faith in the PBA" was this past Chapter and Charter meeting. I did not make the first meeting, but asked people as they left what had happened regarding the "Executive Director" position. Everyone said that the board discussed the position, but agreed not to take any action until further discussion was made. This appeared to make a lot of people feel better (myself included).

I then went up to attend the Charter meeting. It was VP John Swope that surprised the heck out of me. They were talking about communication with members (or lack thereof) when he said that it was the "membership's fault" for not attending more meetings. Although he did acknowledge that they had not been the best at getting the information out.

Well, my ears rang for a minute so I can't tell you what was said after that. But it was all I was going to listen to. I then was the last remaining TPD officer in the room to leave. I gotta admit that I had made prior plans to arrest a fellow as well, so I must be one of those members whose fault it was about being under-informed.

It was after I left the meeting that the Charter board voted to give Kevin Durkin the Executive Director position.

Now what kind of crazy @#$% is that you ask?

The kind that needs to stop. Under Greg Stout's leadership, that @#$% WILL stop.

Greg Stout has been to the mountain, my friends. I saw his actions when he was VP, and he is a man that I still trust.

Go to www.takebackyourpba.com (http://www.takebackyourpba.com) and investigate what he and the rest us stand for.

Stay safe,
Peco

[Greg Stout]

Ray:

I read your questions and responded to them in full at

www.takebackyourpba.com (http://www.takebackyourpba.com)

It is in the "Get Involved," area under the "Tell Us How You Feel," area.

Thank you

Greg Stout

Nice Felicia. :shock:

I saw this and thought you would like it. If seems fitting after your post. :wink:

http://img1.jurko.net/518.gif

Tks,
Ray

Clicking on www.takebackyourpba.com (http://www.takebackyourpba.com) I get this result:

"This Account Has Been Suspended
Please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible."

Now if that doesn't inspire confidence I don't know what does! :roll:

We are undergoing routine updates to our servers. Thats why the screen is up. It will be up in the morning.

Dreamlynx Digital Studios

Takebackyourpba.com has finished its updates and is back on line. The website will under go down time every once in a while for updating. This is the fastest and most productive way to get updates done in a quick and timely matter. These updates will normally occur after midnight when traffic is low.

Thanks for you continued support.

from the PBA website......

Just a few random thoughts......

I understand that there is a new website out there; something about taking back our PBA. I have to admit that I didn't realize that our PBA had been hijacked or that we needed to take it back. I haven't visited this new website but I imagine that it is the typical *****ing from people who don't get their way all the time. The fact is that your union has grown in the past few years and has undergone some necessary organizational changes due to this growth. I am proud to have participated in the reorganization of your union and can report that the PBA has not missed a beat when it comes to service to its membership. I can assure you that there is strength in numbers. Check your paystub and current pension benefits if you disagree. How about that car parked in your driveway? ( I just took a phone call from the FOP in Jacksonville and they were amazed that we did not have a gas co-payment and that we could use our cars for OD jobs without a fee). Ask anyone who has been involved in a shooting, subjected to an internal affairs investigation, been disciplined excessively or been sued for duty related issues. Ask the officers who have requested and been granted arbitration in disciplinary matters. Ask the families of officers killed in the line of duty. Ask those who have our dental plans or car insurance through NCA. Whenever someone tells you how horrible it is over here, question their motives. I think you will find that there is an agenda that goes beyond any real concern for our union.

Be Safe,
John Swope
Vice President, WCFPBA

That is the problem John. You had no idea that things had gone wrong. You think it is OK that the membership learns what is going on within the PBA from websites other then the PBA websight. I guess it is also OK that we the members are paying the salaries for unqualified people to work very little for a whole lot of money. I guess it's OK with you that the one person (Ms. Slater) who helped a LOT of officers and was there during those police shootings and grievences for the officers quit because of the nonsense going on there and the board and members weren't even told about it. So the sad truth is the PBA has been "hijacked" in that it is and has recently been headed in a direction other then the original destination without the knowledge or consent of the members (and it would appear about half of the board). Sadder yet- I don't think that you can see that. That is the trouble with a select few being put in positions that remove them from the people they serve. Or have you all forgotten that you were elected to serve the members-not to make all the decisions as you see fit and then tell the members you know what is best-they don't?
:shock:

So Swope claims he has not visited the site. Come on, he forgets he is talking to a bunch of cops.

Well John, seems the only thing you do well is take your foot and shove it straight in your own mouth. You have completely lost touch with the reality of the situation. Don't you realize you all are becoming the "Saddam Hussein" of the police union. You are placing unelected officials in positions without the consent of a majority vote from the PBA members. This should have been placed on a ballot for all to vote on. This thing with Julie Collins has gotten way out of had. Lets see her degrees and experience that justify the salary and perks she is receiving. As for an agenda, I can see the trend of officers such as yourself trying to get a nice paycheck using our dues. JOHN SWOPE, the PBA actions and your inability to see the problems are despicable in every degree. You guys have caused this to transpire. Takebackyourpba.com wouldn't be here if you at the PBA had done the job you were elected to do. You at the PBA have caused this, nothing more, nothing less.

Now thats the truth

from the PBA website......

Just a few random thoughts......

I understand that there is a new website out there; something about taking back our PBA. I have to admit that I didn't realize that our PBA had been hijacked or that we needed to take it back. I haven't visited this new website but I imagine that it is the typical *****ing from people who don't get their way all the time. The fact is that your union has grown in the past few years and has undergone some necessary organizational changes due to this growth. I am proud to have participated in the reorganization of your union and can report that the PBA has not missed a beat when it comes to service to its membership. I can assure you that there is strength in numbers. Check your paystub and current pension benefits if you disagree. How about that car parked in your driveway? ( I just took a phone call from the FOP in Jacksonville and they were amazed that we did not have a gas co-payment and that we could use our cars for OD jobs without a fee). Ask anyone who has been involved in a shooting, subjected to an internal affairs investigation, been disciplined excessively or been sued for duty related issues. Ask the officers who have requested and been granted arbitration in disciplinary matters. Ask the families of officers killed in the line of duty. Ask those who have our dental plans or car insurance through NCA. Whenever someone tells you how horrible it is over here, question their motives. I think you will find that there is an agenda that goes beyond any real concern for our union.

Be Safe,
John Swope
Vice President, WCFPBA


John,
You coming on and referencing "a website, something about taking back your PBA" is like me showing up at a house fully engulfed in flame and saying "ok, what's this about a house fire or something"!

You guys suck, and I mean that and I really hope you take it personally. You are ruining our PBA at your own expense and you point to our take home cars as great things you've done. Guess what John, that was done YEARS ago....what have you done for us lately?? I'll tell you:

You've taken away our ability to vote for our president.
You've hired people who are unqualified and paid them extraordinary salaries with our money.
You've tried to get us to accept a subpar contract after you went into negotiations unprepared.
You've voted yourselves "members for life" and decided you don't need to pay the same dues we members pay.
You've allowed your cronies to benefit (Durkin) at our expense.
You've decided we don't need to know what's going on with OUR PBA and made it necessarry for third parties ( LEOAfairs, Takebackyourpba.com ) to inform us of the goings on.
You've shown repeatedly that you don't care what the members want and proceeded with a course of action that the members do not approve of.


Neither you or Kevin's strong points are responding to criticism, which is evident by his response to the Tribune months ago and your above post. My advice to you is be quiet and continue the terrible job you're doing until we can figure out a way to remove you and Kevin from office ( as well as those who voted for all this BS ).

[Greg Stout]

Since your elected officials at the PBA can't seem to to let you know about this, I contacted City Personnel and learned that the Sergeant's Exam will be administered on Monday, July 23, 2007 at 14:00 at the Tampa Convention Center, Ball Room B.

Also, for your information 80 people signed up for the sergeant's exam and 202 signed up for the Det/Cpl exam.

Please tell your friends about our site, www.takebackyourpba.com

Thanks

Greg Stout

[Greg Stout]

Important Information for Officers with Take-Home Vehicles

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This information was posted on the State PBA Site and should be of interest to all police officers.

Please check out our site, www.takebackyourpba.com
Thanks,
Greg Stout




Attention: Important Information for Officers with Take-Home Vehicles

Recently [June 6, 2007], the Fourth District of Appeal issued a decision about liability when take-home vehicles are involved in traffic crashes. The decision involved a sergeant from City of Hollywood who was driving to work and had a traffic crash with a pedestrian on his way into work. The sergeant was in his assigned take-home vehicle, in uniform and going to work. He was not on-duty. The City moved for summary judgment in the lawsuit claiming the sergeant was not acting within the scope or course of employment and thus, it was not liable (obviously leaving the sergeant on the hook). The Court agreed finding that City was not liable in the case because the sergeant was not acting with scope or course of employment at the time of the crash.

We advise all of our members to check with their personal insurance carrier and make sure their personal automobile insurance covers operation of the take-home vehicle while traveling to or from work or on personal errands (if they are off-duty at the time).


The case can be found at 2007 WL 1610156 or 32 Fla. L. Weekly D1442.

Interesting, but I believe Tampa has already set a precedent that during your trip to and from workyou ARE on duty. Det. Serrano's death was LOD.