09-18-2008, 03:06 AM
At about the 1 hour and 24 minute part of the debate, Morgan made a comment addressing the pay issue for Correctional Officers where he stated:
that the starting salary of a correctional officer was woefully inadequate, which was what Morgan thought was typical of the current administration of placing the correctional facility always on the back burner, by what he read in the PNJ about a job fair held at the Civic Center. The S/O was advertising the positions that they had open. If you dont think this is in your face to show sadly how this administration placed the stock in your profession of law enforcement is this:
* You started an administrative assistant at the Sheriffs Office at $12.74 per hour,
* a Detention Deputy trainee $11.70 per hour.
So we thought it was more important to hire administrators than to hire Detention Deputies.
Here are the true facts:
The "Administrative Assistant" (formerly known as: Security Control Monitors) is typically a "clerical job" that also has a repsonsibility to handle security details from from fingerprinting arrested juveniles and those arrest handled through a rapid intake procedure. These responsibilities were once the "menial tasks" of the Correctional Officer. By utilizing these Adminsitrative Assistants (aka Security Control Monitors) the administration freed officers to focus on more importants task assigned to security staff.
I for one would not do the job these Administrative Assistants do for the paltry sum of $12.70 per hour. I feel comfortable that if you asked any Correctional Officer, they too would not desire to do the job of the Administrative Assistantant. In fact, numerous Admin Assistants have been provided the opportunity to attend the George Stone Academy and obtain their certifications as Correctional Officers. This provides another path for advancment within the Sheriffs Office.
The Detention Deputy Trainee salary of $11.70 is actually for a Correctional STUDENT Trainee. This salary was to allow an entry level person to attend the George Stone Academy and obtain their certification. Many of the new hires could not afford to quit their current job and attend the academy on their own and by offering an entry level STUDENT position, it allowed the agency to be selective in the hiring process in order to seek the best qualified individual.
In my opinion, the $11.70 entry level salary to attend school to learn a trade which would allow a person to be hired anywhere in the Florida, sure beats the entry level wages for most jobs in Escambia County.
In addition to the $11.70 salary, the agency paid the cost of the Academy tuition, uniforms, PT gear, certification exam, travel cost, etc. About $2,000 per student. Once a student had received their certification and became a Detention Deputy Trainee, their salary went from $11.70 per hour to $13.39 per hour. Upon completing their probationary period the salary would be $14.73 per hour.
Today, those same salaries are:
$11.98 - Correctional Student
$14.37 - Certified Trainee (probationary period)
$15.81 - Detention Deputy (probation completed)
Now, which makes more sense:
Hiring an administrative assistant to do the clerical work of the Dention Deputy, or paying a Detention Deputy $15.81 to file paperwork?
The adminsitrative assistants provide an invaluable resource to the jail and Detention Deputy in a very cost effective manner. If Morgan chooses to eliminate, what he sees as a over-loaded administrative staff, the public will need to plan on shelling out some big $$$ to have Detention Deputies filing paperwork instead of providing security services. :roll:
that the starting salary of a correctional officer was woefully inadequate, which was what Morgan thought was typical of the current administration of placing the correctional facility always on the back burner, by what he read in the PNJ about a job fair held at the Civic Center. The S/O was advertising the positions that they had open. If you dont think this is in your face to show sadly how this administration placed the stock in your profession of law enforcement is this:
* You started an administrative assistant at the Sheriffs Office at $12.74 per hour,
* a Detention Deputy trainee $11.70 per hour.
So we thought it was more important to hire administrators than to hire Detention Deputies.
Here are the true facts:
The "Administrative Assistant" (formerly known as: Security Control Monitors) is typically a "clerical job" that also has a repsonsibility to handle security details from from fingerprinting arrested juveniles and those arrest handled through a rapid intake procedure. These responsibilities were once the "menial tasks" of the Correctional Officer. By utilizing these Adminsitrative Assistants (aka Security Control Monitors) the administration freed officers to focus on more importants task assigned to security staff.
I for one would not do the job these Administrative Assistants do for the paltry sum of $12.70 per hour. I feel comfortable that if you asked any Correctional Officer, they too would not desire to do the job of the Administrative Assistantant. In fact, numerous Admin Assistants have been provided the opportunity to attend the George Stone Academy and obtain their certifications as Correctional Officers. This provides another path for advancment within the Sheriffs Office.
The Detention Deputy Trainee salary of $11.70 is actually for a Correctional STUDENT Trainee. This salary was to allow an entry level person to attend the George Stone Academy and obtain their certification. Many of the new hires could not afford to quit their current job and attend the academy on their own and by offering an entry level STUDENT position, it allowed the agency to be selective in the hiring process in order to seek the best qualified individual.
In my opinion, the $11.70 entry level salary to attend school to learn a trade which would allow a person to be hired anywhere in the Florida, sure beats the entry level wages for most jobs in Escambia County.
In addition to the $11.70 salary, the agency paid the cost of the Academy tuition, uniforms, PT gear, certification exam, travel cost, etc. About $2,000 per student. Once a student had received their certification and became a Detention Deputy Trainee, their salary went from $11.70 per hour to $13.39 per hour. Upon completing their probationary period the salary would be $14.73 per hour.
Today, those same salaries are:
$11.98 - Correctional Student
$14.37 - Certified Trainee (probationary period)
$15.81 - Detention Deputy (probation completed)
Now, which makes more sense:
Hiring an administrative assistant to do the clerical work of the Dention Deputy, or paying a Detention Deputy $15.81 to file paperwork?
The adminsitrative assistants provide an invaluable resource to the jail and Detention Deputy in a very cost effective manner. If Morgan chooses to eliminate, what he sees as a over-loaded administrative staff, the public will need to plan on shelling out some big $$$ to have Detention Deputies filing paperwork instead of providing security services. :roll: