changing our ways?

well i want to start off by saying i have nothing against none of the administration or the new chief... i guess i haven't been here long enough but i have been here long enough to realize somethings that are changing that make no sense and is taking away from the department which makes us unique from others... im going to say a couple of things and i dont mean to offend anyone im really sayig all this because its affecting me directly and my co workers....

First this is whats up with this whole taking our goatees and shorts away?? listen the back of my ears are still somewhat wet but it doesn't take a genius to realize that an officer with a groomed goatee and a nice pressed uniform looks more professional than an officer who is clean shaved but with a wrinkled and dirty uniform.. listen this is a really ungrateful job we never get a thank you in the streets with all the crap we deal with goatees and shorts is like a small reward for our good work... and i think something thats more important than goatees is our police vehicles!!! you want me to look good, which i always do, but i get out of a unit that smells like fumes and smells like a horses ass inside?? come on seriously.. let us have our goatees!!! its a little reward we get for our hard work!!!

Second of all hire some damn people!!! the new chief is always implementing safety well theres a big safety issue hire some damn cops... but of course before you hire more cops, find us some parking spots... i mean dont worry about all the crime and shooting in NMB lets worry about not parking in the south or north of the station.. yea good job...

Third of all... now that theres a new chief why all these changes? i mean does it really make a difference if i have a teddy bear in my car? or a sticker of the USA flag on my car? with all due respect major, theres bigger issues like get better cars... i have a lot of respect for all administration but i just feel like theres other issues that are WAY more important than stickers.. i think the chief would rather target issues that really affect our safety instead of worrying about parking.. i think parking is important but if we are going to get it done, lets get it done right because i still cant find any parking!!

Fourth of perks... here we go... take the perks... i think the only people who should perk are people on mids because they dont get anything for working mids... a few hours of extra sleep help... if they want the perks, im sure many of us dont have problem with starting to make a whole lot of more overtime... perks arent a big issue.. again they are bigger problems... i also hate the fact that only two officers can take off from the calender.. i mean we pay overtime for really unnecessary things why not let more people take off? other departments do it.. they can deny your comp but not your annual leave...

what im basically saying is that i really think we have one of the best departments in dade county and some of the best officers!! but lets keep it that way lets not kill the moral.. why cant a female officer have a small earing on her upper ear? i mean we need to show people that we are professionals but also normal people like them who like fashion and like to be fashionably motivated... citizens in the street would feel more comfortable owing we are people just like them... thats the beauty of police work in dade county we are SEMI military.. SEMI... i think we have problems like every other department but we are targeting the wrong issues!!

i just really hope they dont make it any more stressful than what it already is for us in the streets.. its a great department, lets keep it that way and lets make it a better department.. send us to school too!!! school school school! i understand that sometimes some decisions need to be made that arent too popular and no matter what you choose, theyll be unhappy people.. but i really do believe that in life its the big over all goal that counts.. you cant stress out the small things because youll lose your mind and never make it to the end of the tunnel... LET US KEEP OUR GOATEES!!!!

Ofc. Mandingo, I've been here long enough to tell you that no one cares about you other than your close friends and family. Admin sure doesn't. They get paid to make decisions, usually unpopular ones. Take a lokk at who's running this place. Other than the Chief, some of our administartors could have been terminated as officers, demoted as supervisors, but yet they continued to move through the ranks of an unethical adminstration. Yeah of course they will tell you that everyone makes mistakes....sorry, not me. We might all break minor policy violations, but MOST of us would never commit some of the unetcial and borderline illegal acts of our adminisrators. Look, I'm repeating what others have already told you, but the fact is that our pension is garbage when compared to other agencies, our ability to move around is slim to none, your ability to get promoted is slim to none, and our pay scale is average. I was looking at officer.com and there was a post in their forums about hiring at NMBPD. Well the poster advised a month ago he called HR and they advisd were not hiring. Of course we don't know how reliable that info is, but what I do know is were short about 10 people and were haven't hired ANYONE. If you have a short time here, get out while you can. You'll regret it later on when your still bidding noons or mids with 7-10 yrs on. Most of us don't get into this career with ambitions of being a road officer for our entire career, but the probability in our department is you will. Look at the county or other large agencies, there's so many things you can do that you'll get lost. Plus there benefits, unlimted take home use, better pension, promotion potential, special unit potential, batter pay scale, and so on.....A word from the wise.

Let me enlighten both of you. There is only one person to blame for the removal of your goatee's, earrings, shorts, teddy bears and God help you if you have an American Flag sticker on your car! That one person would be the Chief. These changes are being made by him not the administration. Our administrators can be blamed for not saying a word, while he changes everything. Not letting him know how moral is dropping, but instead either sitting back with their mouths shut or agreeing with him in hopes of a promotion. So well you vent on LEO affairs unless your union or you steps up to the plate and becomes verbal at work hold onto your undies because this is only the beginning.

Clean that office, get a new uniform, shave the beards and go tees, WHAT ABOUT THE FRIGGIN CRIME IN NMB. FORGET THE DAMN TASK FORCES, BRING THE OFFICERS BACK AND LETS GO GET SOME BAD GUYS FOR ONCE. That is what the citizens and business people want !

Google "past practice" and learn. Then either do something about it or shut up.