The Overtime Option

On Tuesday, June 3rd the City Commission will consider a proposal to fund additional Police overtime targeting high crime areas in the city for the remainder of this fiscal year – until Sept. 30th. If approved, $100,000 will be transferred from the Commission Contingency account.

The CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) www.lakeworthcra.org (http://www.lakeworthcra.org) has funded Police overtime for western neighborhoods for the last year. They started with $80,000 in April of last year and increased it to $150,000 for this fiscal year. The results have been phenomenally successful. Below are some of the statistics of the activity being done strictly by the CRA patrols in the area (6th Ave South to 7th Ave North from C St to F St.) The police patrols are presently working Thursday- Sunday. These stats are from April 07 to April 08.

Citizen Contacts: 5,317
Arrests: 243
Citations (Traffic & Criminal): 1,120
Vehicles Towed: 243
Red Tags Abandoned Vehicles): 182
Community Action Orders (code issues): 103

What the stats don’t show is the impact that up close and consistent contact with the police has had on the neighborhood. People have come to know the officers and have a much greater appreciation for what you all do. People are less hesitant to report suspicious and/or criminal activity. More and more neighbors are actually watching out for each other because they have greater confidence that when they report something – it’s going to be addressed by an officer they have frequently seen on patrol and have spoken with.

Targeted and consistent neighborhood policing works and I hope the Commission approves this additional expenditure. BUT, there’s a fundamental flaw in this whole picture. At what point does it make more sense to simply hire more officers and put more boots on the street all the time. Overtime expense is justified as a short-term solution, but crime in Lake Worth is not a short-term problem. We have not added officers for years now even though we’ve annexed more territory and our population has exploded with undocumented and non-tax-paying residents who draw a disproportionate share of public safety services. Foreclosures and abandoned or neglected rental properties have skyrocketed. Code compliance is severely understaffed and underfunded. Misguided political correctness intimidates and inhibits city leaders from supporting vigorous code and law enforcement.

Enough Already! The CRA community policing stats for the last year PROVE what LWPD can do when they have the resources to do it. We need precisely this kind of laser-beamed and consistent police presence in every neighborhood and we need it yesterday for heaven’s sake. I live on the edge of the CRA district and I’m grateful for what’s been accomplished, but how in the world can the city, even with help from the CRA, continue to fund adequate police services at time and half?

I’m holding Sheriff Bradshaw to his word that PBSO will bring all the resources we need to get this city under control. I’m holding this Commission to their word that public safety is their top priority. Either make the deal and make it soon with PBSO or tell us how much it going to cost Lake Worth taxpayers for permanent, citywide overtime police protection.

Above all, Thank You and Be Safe.
M.

On Tuesday, June 3rd the City Commission will consider a proposal to fund additional Police overtime targeting high crime areas in the city for the remainder of this fiscal year – until Sept. 30th. If approved, $100,000 will be transferred from the Commission Contingency account.

The CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) www.lakeworthcra.org (http://www.lakeworthcra.org) has funded Police overtime for western neighborhoods for the last year. They started with $80,000 in April of last year and increased it to $150,000 for this fiscal year. The results have been phenomenally successful. Below are some of the statistics of the activity being done strictly by the CRA patrols in the area (6th Ave South to 7th Ave North from C St to F St.) The police patrols are presently working Thursday- Sunday. These stats are from April 07 to April 08.

Citizen Contacts: 5,317
Arrests: 243
Citations (Traffic & Criminal): 1,120
Vehicles Towed: 243
Red Tags Abandoned Vehicles): 182
Community Action Orders (code issues): 103

What the stats don’t show is the impact that up close and consistent contact with the police has had on the neighborhood. People have come to know the officers and have a much greater appreciation for what you all do. People are less hesitant to report suspicious and/or criminal activity. More and more neighbors are actually watching out for each other because they have greater confidence that when they report something – it’s going to be addressed by an officer they have frequently seen on patrol and have spoken with.

Targeted and consistent neighborhood policing works and I hope the Commission approves this additional expenditure. BUT, there’s a fundamental flaw in this whole picture. At what point does it make more sense to simply hire more officers and put more boots on the street all the time. Overtime expense is justified as a short-term solution, but crime in Lake Worth is not a short-term problem. We have not added officers for years now even though we’ve annexed more territory and our population has exploded with undocumented and non-tax-paying residents who draw a disproportionate share of public safety services. Foreclosures and abandoned or neglected rental properties have skyrocketed. Code compliance is severely understaffed and underfunded. Misguided political correctness intimidates and inhibits city leaders from supporting vigorous code and law enforcement.

Enough Already! The CRA community policing stats for the last year PROVE what LWPD can do when they have the resources to do it. We need precisely this kind of laser-beamed and consistent police presence in every neighborhood and we need it yesterday for heaven’s sake. I live on the edge of the CRA district and I’m grateful for what’s been accomplished, but how in the world can the city, even with help from the CRA, continue to fund adequate police services at time and half?

I’m holding Sheriff Bradshaw to his word that PBSO will bring all the resources we need to get this city under control. I’m holding this Commission to their word that public safety is their top priority. Either make the deal and make it soon with PBSO or tell us how much it going to cost Lake Worth taxpayers for permanent, citywide overtime police protection.

Above all, Thank You and Be Safe.
M.

Thanks Mary. They can approve overtime, but they will soon be gone with this economy. They need to merge with PBSO. The additional resources and cost savings would allow the city to spend more for Sheriff overtime.

"They can approve overtime, but they will soon be gone with this economy. They need to merge with PBSO. The additional resources and cost savings would allow the city to spend more for Sheriff overtime."

I know I get a bit too wordy sometimes, but that was precisely my point.
M.

They can approve this foolish plan which amounts to putting a band-aid on a chest wound. All it will do is deplete the city's already depleted coffers. This is not a solution. The LWPD has lost control of the streets because they are severly understaffed, overworked and grossly mismanaged by the administration. If the merger does not happen then it will only get worse when 20 or more officers leave for greener pastures. The merger is a good thing for everbody. The city will save money and have better policing for it. (win-win / no brainer)

Has anyone ever thought about adding more resources to our current PD instead of this quick merger?
The additional funds appropriated for the overtime of high crime areas has worked. Therefore, it shows our current police is capable of dealing with the current crime situation. I don't mind the PBSO merger unless all our options have been exhausted which is not the case. This is a drastic decision which I commend the Commission in taking the time to analyze it real carefully.

These arrest numbers are a ruse only meant to fool the citizens. What the citizens don't know is that most of these arrests are misdemeanors where the officers issue the bad guy a ticket with a court date. The bad guy doesn't go to jail. It won't work.

High visibility is the best deterent of crime. Having only seven or eight patrol cars on the road that are usually humping calls is not enough. Visible patrol stops crime before it happens. With PBSO, we'll get about twelve cars out there per shift, and road patrol can do what it is designed to do, PATROL!!! We have enough personnel, meaning bodies, but alot of them are chiefs and too few indians.

High visibility is the best deterent of crime. Having only seven or eight patrol cars on the road that are usually humping calls is not enough. Visible patrol stops crime before it happens. With PBSO, we'll get about twelve cars out there per shift, and road patrol can do what it is designed to do, PATROL!!! We have enough personnel, meaning bodies, but alot of them are chiefs and too few indians.

Amen

This sounds like a last ditch effort by the chief to keep his over paid job. Go PBSO now on the city's terms or wait for the city to fold and go on the county's terms. One way or another it's going to happen.

I do not know what the true and actual cost of hiring, equipping and then maintaining a police officer for a year is for the City of Lake Worth. But I would be willing to bet that for $150,000 you would only be able to get two officers on the road for that amount of money. Once you factor in the salary, benefits and expenses to hire, train and equip an officer you will see that it is not cheap. While I agree that there needs to be more officers in uniform on the street, I think that you will find that for the amount of money spent, regardless if they were issuing NTA’s, traffic citations or just standing on the corner deterring criminals through their presence you would not be able to achieve those types of results and numbers as posted, by hiring two new officers. Two new officers would amount to no gain basically. My point is that the overtime patrols are undoubtedly more cost effective and productive than spending that money on the two officers that you could hire.

The bottom line is the City of Lake Worth needs to have at a minimum of 12 road patrol units on the road at any given time of the day or night. During the evening hours and especially on Friday and Saturday night there should be a four person crime suppression team/street team out, to bring the total uniformed personnel to 16. Add a K-9 and a traffic/DUI unit and you have 18 along with two sergeants and you should have at minimum during the evening hours 20 uniformed personnel on the street. You will never get this with the current police department and its administration, this is just a fact. The only way that the City of Lake Worth will ever get the proper law enforcement presence that it deserves is to contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. The reality of the economics dictates that this merger takes place for the betterment of the city. Those of you who are looking at this merger in a negative aspect are only being selfish and self serving. The citizens of the City of Lake Worth deserve better. This is not a slam on the many fine officers who currently work at Lake Worth P.D. or the department in general. This is also not to say that PBSO is perfect and that they are the cure all for all of the problems that the city is facing. A merger will not mean that crime comes to a complete and total halt, there will be issues to over come, things will not be perfect in the city just because green and whites are patrolling the streets. But it will be better than what is currently in place. And that will be better for everyone, citizens, officers and the city as a whole.

I agree with the last poster, but we can have 20 police officers patrolling the streets at any given time if we change the current schedule we have. Going to 11.5 hours or 10 hour shifts would be beneficial to the city and us. We can achieve in getting take home cars if we follow Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, and Jupiter's take home car policies with the change of shifts. What bothers me is most of the officers that come on here wanting a merger is just doing it for their self interest and benefits. All the options have not been exhausted. The funny thing is hearing a poster mention 20 officers will leave here for the Sheriff's Office if the merger doesn't go through. Go ahead! PBSO has a long waiting and it's even more rigorous to get in now. It would probably take you a year, if not more to get through the process. I can say this for a fact SO would not higher a large number of cops from one single agency to paraylze it and then have to take it over by mandate at their expense. Good try on the scare tactic.

I agree with the last poster, but we can have 20 police officers patrolling the streets at any given time if we change the current schedule we have. Going to 11.5 hours or 10 hour shifts would be beneficial to the city and us. We can achieve in getting take home cars if we follow Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, and Jupiter's take home car policies with the change of shifts. What bothers me is most of the officers that come on here wanting a merger is just doing it for their self interest and benefits. All the options have not been exhausted. The funny thing is hearing a poster mention 20 officers will leave here for the Sheriff's Office if the merger doesn't go through. Go ahead! PBSO has a long waiting and it's even more rigorous to get in now. It would probably take you a year, if not more to get through the process. I can say this for a fact SO would not higher a large number of cops from one single agency to paraylze it and then have to take it over by mandate at their expense. Good try on the scare tactic.

We also have a hard working tactical team doing their best with limited resources. Majority of the police officer here are hard working and have done their best with what they have. They should be commended.

On Tuesday, June 3rd the City Commission will consider a proposal to fund additional Police overtime targeting high crime areas in the city for the remainder of this fiscal year – until Sept. 30th. If approved, $100,000 will be transferred from the Commission Contingency account.

The CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) www.lakeworthcra.org (http://www.lakeworthcra.org) has funded Police overtime for western neighborhoods for the last year. They started with $80,000 in April of last year and increased it to $150,000 for this fiscal year. The results have been phenomenally successful. Below are some of the statistics of the activity being done strictly by the CRA patrols in the area (6th Ave South to 7th Ave North from C St to F St.) The police patrols are presently working Thursday- Sunday. These stats are from April 07 to April 08.

Mary this won't work , as before some Sgt's were able to change thier hour's and they sucked up all th OT working along Lake and Lucerne and it did nothing. This will happen again and they will get rich and again nothing will happen. One of these Sgt's made over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS working the OT by the CRA, becuase he was able to change his hours, why don't we just assign him there with no OT he does nothing anyway.
If we were to go SO they would bring in the staff for thing's like this with no out of pocket spent. They did it in Belle Glade, besides the regular units working out there when they had a problem they brought in over 50 extra untis to attack the problem and they solved it in 3 months.


Citizen Contacts: 5,317
Arrests: 243
Citations (Traffic & Criminal): 1,120
Vehicles Towed: 243
Red Tags Abandoned Vehicles): 182
Community Action Orders (code issues): 103

What the stats don’t show is the impact that up close and consistent contact with the police has had on the neighborhood. People have come to know the officers and have a much greater appreciation for what you all do. People are less hesitant to report suspicious and/or criminal activity. More and more neighbors are actually watching out for each other because they have greater confidence that when they report something – it’s going to be addressed by an officer they have frequently seen on patrol and have spoken with.

Targeted and consistent neighborhood policing works and I hope the Commission approves this additional expenditure. BUT, there’s a fundamental flaw in this whole picture. At what point does it make more sense to simply hire more officers and put more boots on the street all the time. Overtime expense is justified as a short-term solution, but crime in Lake Worth is not a short-term problem. We have not added officers for years now even though we’ve annexed more territory and our population has exploded with undocumented and non-tax-paying residents who draw a disproportionate share of public safety services. Foreclosures and abandoned or neglected rental properties have skyrocketed. Code compliance is severely understaffed and underfunded. Misguided political correctness intimidates and inhibits city leaders from supporting vigorous code and law enforcement.

Enough Already! The CRA community policing stats for the last year PROVE what LWPD can do when they have the resources to do it. We need precisely this kind of laser-beamed and consistent police presence in every neighborhood and we need it yesterday for heaven’s sake. I live on the edge of the CRA district and I’m grateful for what’s been accomplished, but how in the world can the city, even with help from the CRA, continue to fund adequate police services at time and half?

I’m holding Sheriff Bradshaw to his word that PBSO will bring all the resources we need to get this city under control. I’m holding this Commission to their word that public safety is their top priority. Either make the deal and make it soon with PBSO or tell us how much it going to cost Lake Worth taxpayers for permanent, citywide overtime police protection.

Above all, Thank You and Be Safe.
M.

On Tuesday, June 3rd the City Commission will consider a proposal to fund additional Police overtime targeting high crime areas in the city for the remainder of this fiscal year – until Sept. 30th. If approved, $100,000 will be transferred from the Commission Contingency account.

The CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) www.lakeworthcra.org (http://www.lakeworthcra.org) has funded Police overtime for western neighborhoods for the last year. They started with $80,000 in April of last year and increased it to $150,000 for this fiscal year. The results have been phenomenally successful. Below are some of the statistics of the activity being done strictly by the CRA patrols in the area (6th Ave South to 7th Ave North from C St to F St.) The police patrols are presently working Thursday- Sunday. These stats are from April 07 to April 08.

Mary this will not work , in the past the CRA gave moneyt for extra patrols along Lake and Lucerne and it didn't work. The only thing that happened is that the Sgt in chanrge of the COP's got rich and made over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS from it. He was able to change his hours and work all the OT, we could of just assigned him there on his regular duty and it would have done the same thing, it's not like he does anything all day.
If we were to go green the Sheriff would bring in extra units to handle things that this like he did in Belle Glade. Besides the regular units working out there he had an 50 more units work out there over a 3 month time period and they came from around the county, it cost the city of Belle Glade no extra money for OT and the problem was solved.
We need the SO and the free man power.



Mary this won't work , as before some Sgt's were able to change thier hour's and they sucked up all th OT working along Lake and Lucerne and it did nothing. This will happen again and they will get rich and again nothing will happen. One of these Sgt's made over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS working the OT by the CRA, becuase he was able to change his hours, why don't we just assign him there with no OT he does nothing anyway.
If we were to go SO they would bring in the staff for thing's like this with no out of pocket spent. They did it in Belle Glade, besides the regular units working out there when they had a problem they brought in over 50 extra untis to attack the problem and they solved it in 3 months.


Citizen Contacts: 5,317
Arrests: 243
Citations (Traffic & Criminal): 1,120
Vehicles Towed: 243
Red Tags Abandoned Vehicles): 182
Community Action Orders (code issues): 103

What the stats don’t show is the impact that up close and consistent contact with the police has had on the neighborhood. People have come to know the officers and have a much greater appreciation for what you all do. People are less hesitant to report suspicious and/or criminal activity. More and more neighbors are actually watching out for each other because they have greater confidence that when they report something – it’s going to be addressed by an officer they have frequently seen on patrol and have spoken with.

Targeted and consistent neighborhood policing works and I hope the Commission approves this additional expenditure. BUT, there’s a fundamental flaw in this whole picture. At what point does it make more sense to simply hire more officers and put more boots on the street all the time. Overtime expense is justified as a short-term solution, but crime in Lake Worth is not a short-term problem. We have not added officers for years now even though we’ve annexed more territory and our population has exploded with undocumented and non-tax-paying residents who draw a disproportionate share of public safety services. Foreclosures and abandoned or neglected rental properties have skyrocketed. Code compliance is severely understaffed and underfunded. Misguided political correctness intimidates and inhibits city leaders from supporting vigorous code and law enforcement.

Enough Already! The CRA community policing stats for the last year PROVE what LWPD can do when they have the resources to do it. We need precisely this kind of laser-beamed and consistent police presence in every neighborhood and we need it yesterday for heaven’s sake. I live on the edge of the CRA district and I’m grateful for what’s been accomplished, but how in the world can the city, even with help from the CRA, continue to fund adequate police services at time and half?

I’m holding Sheriff Bradshaw to his word that PBSO will bring all the resources we need to get this city under control. I’m holding this Commission to their word that public safety is their top priority. Either make the deal and make it soon with PBSO or tell us how much it going to cost Lake Worth taxpayers for permanent, citywide overtime police protection.

Above all, Thank You and Be Safe.
M.

Having the CRA though $ isn't the answer. They did give the PD alot of money for over time on Lake and Lucerne and it didn't work. However it did get one Sgt from the COP unit very rich he worked all most all of the OT by changing his hours, he made over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND last year with all of that OT. I wounder if his job is so unimportant that he can change his hours to work OT then that mean's he has nothing to do at a certin time so why didn't the chief change this Sgt's hour's and make him work the slot at regular pay instead of OT.

So if approved this mean's everytime we have a problem the city is going to fork out 100 K in tax dollars to try to solve it, I don't think so.

If we were to go SO they would handle it, example in Belle Glade a contract city, they had a problem so the Sheriff had 50 units from elsewhere in the county go there and work for 3 months with no Ot billed to the city and the problem was solved, they can do the same thing hear..

I agree with the last poster, but we can have 20 police officers patrolling the streets at any given time if we change the current schedule we have. Going to 11.5 hours or 10 hour shifts would be beneficial to the city and us. We can achieve in getting take home cars if we follow Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, and Jupiter's take home car policies with the change of shifts. What bothers me is most of the officers that come on here wanting a merger is just doing it for their self interest and benefits. All the options have not been exhausted. The funny thing is hearing a poster mention 20 officers will leave here for the Sheriff's Office if the merger doesn't go through. Go ahead! PBSO has a long waiting and it's even more rigorous to get in now. It would probably take you a year, if not more to get through the process. I can say this for a fact SO would not higher a large number of cops from one single agency to paraylze it and then have to take it over by mandate at their expense. Good try on the scare tactic.

Thanks for your input sgt or LT. But officers want more change than just shifts. Go PBSO.

Any word on the merger? :(

First of all there is no year wait to get on at that SO, this is a scare tactic. And the 11-hour shifts will not solve any problems, it will only satisfy the cry babies that don’t want to work 5 days in a week.

When we go SO the 11 hour days will come automatically.

For those who weren't able to listen in to the Commission meeting tonight -

The Commission approved the $100,000 in overtime for the rest of this fiscal year. They seemed to acknowledge that it's a short term response to the public fear and outcry over the recent shootings but they did not address any kind of a Plan B if the merger falls apart.

They did approve Commissioner Vespo to act as "liaison and be intimately involved" in negotiations and they also called a special meeting next week to present their individual ideas for what they want the contract to include. Thursday the 12th at 4pm.

It's the most positive forward motion I've seen yet from the Commission on this matter. Just my opinion, but I think the prospect of cutting 10% from the Police budget, as the City Mgr and Finance Dir wants to cut from every dept. budget is just to scary to seriously consider offering to the public.

I remain optimistic.
M.

Thanks Mary for the information, if you would please watch who is getting this special OT. Sgts and LTs are all ready bragging about sucking it up, this causes several problems one being that as supervisors they feel that they don’t have to do any work when out there, when working this OT they should act like any other officer and handle anything not just what they want. Also the special money would sure go a lot further paying officers at time and half rather then paying LTs and Sgts at time and half.

The city should also change the shift/ hours of the tact unit to cover the times when officers can’t sign up for the OT instead of forcing officers to work it.

For those who weren't able to listen in to the Commission meeting tonight -

The Commission approved the $100,000 in overtime for the rest of this fiscal year. They seemed to acknowledge that it's a short term response to the public fear and outcry over the recent shootings but they did not address any kind of a Plan B if the merger falls apart.

They did approve Commissioner Vespo to act as "liaison and be intimately involved" in negotiations and they also called a special meeting next week to present their individual ideas for what they want the contract to include. Thursday the 12th at 4pm.

It's the most positive forward motion I've seen yet from the Commission on this matter. Just my opinion, but I think the prospect of cutting 10% from the Police budget, as the City Mgr and Finance Dir wants to cut from every dept. budget is just to scary to seriously consider offering to the public.

I remain optimistic.
M.
It sounded to me that the Mayor wants the union to kick in money if the officers want a merge. What was he talking about? It is not up to our union to save the city, by us giving away our pensions.

Plan B? If the merger doesn't go through. The PD will continue to run the way it is. We will try hard again to negotiate a new contract. It doesn't look like it is going to happen this year. Sorry folks.

Who is this Mary that is all over this board? Is she an officer, politician, or what. Does she have any experience, education, etc.? It all seems strange. I don't see these unknowns on other boards from this site.

Is it Mary or Mark? I'm confused. :D

Is it Mary or Mark? I'm confused. :D

It is Mary Lindsay and she is a concerned citizen. She want the city cleaned up and the employees taken care of by the city. If that means PBSO then she is all for it. You can trust her more than you can trust some at LWPD. Thanks Mary for all you do to help us officers.

First of all there is no year wait to get on at that SO, this is a scare tactic. And the 11-hour shifts will not solve any problems, it will only satisfy the cry babies that don’t want to work 5 days in a week.

When we go SO the 11 hour days will come automatically.

I was told directly from HR and IA at PBSO that the current wait is a year, possibly more due to THEIR BUDGET problems.

First of all there is no year wait to get on at that SO, this is a scare tactic. And the 11-hour shifts will not solve any problems, it will only satisfy the cry babies that don’t want to work 5 days in a week.

When we go SO the 11 hour days will come automatically.

I was told directly from HR and IA at PBSO that the current wait is a year, possibly more due to THEIR BUDGET problems.


Well I work for PBSO can say you are wrong. They just hired several who processed in about 4 months

First of all there is no year wait to get on at that SO, this is a scare tactic. And the 11-hour shifts will not solve any problems, it will only satisfy the cry babies that don’t want to work 5 days in a week.

When we go SO the 11 hour days will come automatically.

I was told directly from HR and IA at PBSO that the current wait is a year, possibly more due to THEIR BUDGET problems.


Well I work for PBSO can say you are wrong. They just hired several who processed in about 4 months

Then why is HR telling people it's a year wait? I know several people who are processing and they were told this also.

First of all there is no year wait to get on at that SO, this is a scare tactic. And the 11-hour shifts will not solve any problems, it will only satisfy the cry babies that don’t want to work 5 days in a week.

When we go SO the 11 hour days will come automatically.

I was told directly from HR and IA at PBSO that the current wait is a year, possibly more due to THEIR BUDGET problems.


Well I work for PBSO can say you are wrong. They just hired several who processed in about 4 months

Then why is HR telling people it's a year wait? I know several people who are processing and they were told this also.

Who gives a F***

It amazes me how people make up things on this website. Lying about things isn't going to make PBSO magically merge with your PD.

I think it is 2 or 3 people that keep talking to themselves anyway. We all know if you say something enough times it must come true.

Maybe one day this site will be about actual police work. Wow, what a concept.

As far as getting hired at PBSO, it varies. Honestly, if you have someone who can push your application through the process it takes a shorter amount of time. I have spoken with several new hires here at PBSO and some of them have said that it took up to 14 months to get through the process; others are able to get through in 3 months. It all depends on who you know. That is the honest truth, good or bad. The days of hiring 30 to 40 deputies every few weeks are over for the foreseeable future. Until the economy and property tax issues are resolved things are going to be tight at all governmental agencies, including PBSO. That ultimately means few deputies will be hired. PBSO will continue to hire for current open positions, there are no more new positions that are being created and the last I heard none being proposed for the next budget. So, as people leave they will fill those positions. If you are serious about getting hired at PBSO put in your application, be persistent and if you have any favors due you might want to call them in. If not be happy where you are, that is the most important part of life.