A simple question/What are our main issues??

So, you all list the main issues that we ( Probation and Correctional Officers ) face right now? Then you tell me your answer to the problems? Lets see where we go from here.

Well, I am waiting? What are our main issues presently??

Go away ****, you and your little henchman Edwin are are main issues

See, here is the main problem with this site. Even when you ask for constructive conversation, you get stupid replies from punks like above!

Again, lets talk about the main issues at hand. Hey (PUNK) sit this one out. The conversation will be well over your head...Lets talk :D

Still waiting? Is there anything that is at hand right now? Or is everything perfect right now?

The main issues are pretty simple because most of us are in the same boat. Our morale is generally poor because everything that comes out of Tallahassee is bad news. Most people don't have a problem with the job itself. Most the stress comes from doing the same amount of work or more, losing 5% of our pay, our retierment/financial security is in jeapordy and we are at the mercy of scott and the legislature. I know, some clown on hear will say the teamster will save us, etc... But, the bottom line is when scott got elected, we were in trouble and there isn't a damn thing we do about it. The main issue is, we are screwed!

1. Lack of uniformity in policy and procedures, too many areas doing things differently from others, creating confusion and problems.
2. The inability to effectivley voice concerns and complaints, as professionals we should not have to fear retribution for voicing an opinion or concern.
3. Gross lack of resources within and out in the community
4. Our hands are tied behind our backs
5. Bond reduction investigations (huge waste of time)
6. Shall I even go there.... (the court systems)....
7. Too much redundant data entry and paperwork to justify someone elses position when we should be spending more time with the offenders rather than trying to get rid of X's and O's.
8. Issues of overtime when the circumstances dictate that you can't just drop what your doing and stop
9. Training.... (most of it is a joke)
10. and of course if it isn't bad enough that we haven't received a raise since 2006, they offer nothing besides the .45 a mile while we wear our personal vehicles out.
11. Morale is bad

I have to think about possible solutions, I just thought that I'd give this thread a start..

Thank you northstar. Right now the teamsters have nothing to do with the department of corrections. If you want to talk about the current union, that would be pba. Now, they are the voice of corrections. My problem lies with them. They are not letting the membership know how we are going to fight this battle. And, I have no idea why Puckett would not put a rally together? There seems to be no fight! With that said, how do we correct the "current " problem??

Great post peabody! Now, as a group of workers ( not union ) people, let find some answers to these issues! :D

There are many issues, current, past and pre-existing that never seem to go away. Overall, this agency is plagued with problems but not all of the issues are generated solely out of the department. As one agency in the criminal justice system we face reoccuring problems and issues as a result of legislative actions and laws, judicial related issues and then of course the issues of the people that we supervise; their families and friends and the general public.

I hope that this post gets a lot of thoughtful constructive responses however; how can we as a whole use those responses to better the agency? If it wasn't for this forum we would still be separated from each other, this forum brings us together. How can we, outside of this forum, bring ourselves together for a common goal? That is the question that I have

1) When a supervisor says you are not following policy. You send them an e-mail requesting a copy of said policy and you ask them to e-mail you a reply as to why the policy is not covered the same way throughout the state?

2) Do not ever ask a supervisor for an answer unless it is in writing! No matter what the questions is at hand.

3) Sorry to say, the resourses are going to get worse! No answer there.

4) Not sure about your office? I handcuff every offender who has a active warrant! I have not had a problem yet! All offenders with warrants present a danger to all in the office.

5) Bond reductions? You must work in circuit 20. You need to start by e-mailing your boss and asking them why this work is not shown on the pp34?

6) As for court system, well I recommend the max for all offenders. When asked by the court, my answer is very easy.

7) The computer input crap sucks! Do as little as possiable and wait to get a request from your boss. I.G. when doing it60 make sure a re-view is needed. More work for me means more work for you!

8) No overtime, my work paperwork will mirror this fact! You get what you pay for here! Stop trying to be perfect! Even if you are, they do not care.

9) Ah trainning? Well again they will get what they put in. When a question arises, e-mail the boss and ask them to provide you with an answer. Because you have not been trained correctly on all issues.

10) No raise. Again, they will get what is paid for. If the work sucks, well so does the pay! Hey, we have seen the slacker get away with it for years!

11) Morale does suck. As a group of workers, have fun at the office. You are going to be there for a long time. Do not let anyone bring you down...

THESE ARE MY ATTEMPT AT ANSWERS....THANKS PEABODY

Gee, Peabody did i miss anything?

Gee, Peabody did i miss anything?

nope, lol, great responses, thank you!

If we all stick together ( no union crap ) we may be able to find some answers! Lets fight our battles alone.

Any other idea's out there?

My main issue is that as a probation officer I have no time to supervise offenders because I am too busy supervising my GPS alerts, emails, pp90s, it01’s and responding to never ending, annoying inquiries by the over inflated management and supervisors. This may seem odd to some folks, but I really wish we could go back to the days of supervising offenders with our primary concern for public safety. Everyone can accept the fact that there’s always paperwork with every job, but when the paperwork and computer work interferes with our main mission it’s time for reform. I hope Mr. Buss stops the madness when he streamlines the department.

good post

Yea, it is like more work has been added. Then they say, crap can you watch your cases too? Now, it is like supervision if a after thought. :?

Sorry, my answer to this problem is to have all computer input done by the supervisors! Heck, they are in the office anyway.. :D

Secretary Buss won't have a hard time figuring out where reform is necessary in P&P. Let's be honest here, most unit supervisors complain of boredom and they base their opinions about officers on how perfect their IT60s are when they are turned in. When Buss realizes that the management is completely out of focus and incompetent making the cuts in the right places will be easy. Now if we can just get back to doing work in the field of public safety I'd be satisfied. I bet the taxpayers think we're in the field every day.....hahahaha what a scam!!!

I agree, like I said the bosses have all that free time. So, either give them a caseload or have them do all the computer input. Why should they get high risk if they are siiting behind a desk! If you are a certified Probation officer, then you need a caseload and in the field. No more officers doing intake and mo more officers sitting in court! Earn your keep like the rest of the officers. :D

Don't you think that when Buss cuts the number of supervisors then at some point the focus will have to get back to public safety? Heck, they will be so overwhelmed with supervising offenders that they won't have time to send out silly emails or create spreadsheets.

Buss said we can can have way larger caseloads.

Buss said we can can have way larger caseloads.

He is absolutely right if he is talking about CC 10 or 11 CC cases and 10 what ever cases. Sex Offender Specialist 10 or 12 Sex Cases and 30 or so regular probation. DOP 25 drug cases and 15 or 20 regular cases. After a lot of years I lean towards Sex Offenders having a limited case load but ALL THE REST OF YOU NEED TO PULL YOUR WEIGHT!!!

Yea, he has told the central office bosses that the caseloads for field officers should be much higher and the officers who do not have full caseloads will be offered other positions in the department? Now, how do we solve this issue?

Also, sorry to tell you, under Buss plan, the officers with the smallest caseloads will supervise sex officers. Under his plan, this would be the main stream officers. How do we address this issue?

I was told that Buss asked Nimer one thing. "You show me in the current policy where it is directed that any field officer is to have a reduced caseload" ?

And don't tell him that some caseloads are governed by our elected rules. The current budget has no funds going to caseloads! There is no break down of the budget like in years past! So, when you look at funds to C/C the budget says (0) zero. When you look at the budget for DOP, it says (0) zero. Just rememmber one thing, step pay plan past years ago. If you do not fund it, you can not fill it. I think the caseloads are going down the same road. Please look at last years budget and compare it to this years? This may get scary.

All of this is good, and I didn't see one jab at the union. But lets' not forget the REAL bad guys the legislators, they are the ones that set the tempo, for us to follow. What we have now is a governor and legislators who are strong gop puppets. We MUST learn to vote for the PERSON and not the party. If it a dem. or rep. vote for what THEY stand for and not what the party wants.

Correct, no union take allowed! Now, if some or all of the above is true? How are we going to solve some of the problems? I mean, peabody wrote eleven problems and someone came up with their answers. How do we approach Buss's plans?

I apologize, I live under a rock, what exactly are Buss's plans with P&P. Some have posted that he mentioned that we should carry higher caseloads but whether he said that or not I can't believe that (even if he thinks) he has a functioning knowledge of what we actually do. So if anyone knows, please advise, we can go from there.

He told the central office bosses that the caseloads for field officers should be much higher and the officers who do not have full caseloads will be offered other positions in the department? Now, how do we solve this issue?

The numbers told to me were as followed:

Spec 250-300 Active cases

CPSO 200-250 Active cases

Mainstream 50-200 Active cases

**Any caseload below 50 will be handled by Unit Sups

*** The lowest caseloads will handle the Sex Offenders

**** Only field work that is needed will be to complete the HP/SCH

By the end of the session, there will no longer be C/C DOP or PTI
If you look at the current budget, there is no funding for those caseloads.

THIS IS ALL PRETTY SCARY

The numbers told to me were as followed:

Spec 250-300 Active cases

CPSO 200-250 Active cases

Mainstream 50-200 Active cases

**Any caseload below 50 will be handled by Unit Sups

*** The lowest caseloads will handle the sex Offenders

**** Only field work that is needed will be to complete the HP/SCH

By the end of the session, there will no longer be C/C DOP or PTI
If you look at the current budget, there is no funding for those caseloads.

THIS IS ALL PRETTY SCARY

I know PTI is going but unless they cut even more requirements you could only complete VOPs and go to court hearings with numbers like that.
Who told you that and where did they hear that ?

Voices are from the folks at the central office! That's what makes this all really scary. Don't know how we are going to solve this problem? Looks like we are going to end up like the people on the county level.

"With Buss rising up that fast he is more politician minded than officer minded. You don't get promoted that fast if you aren't playing the political game. Buss will do what he is directed to do for the most part and that probably means more privatization and some cuts on the CC side".

This is so true! So how do we solve these problems?

Voices are from the folks at the central office! That's what makes this all really scary. Don't know how we are going to solve this problem? Looks like we are going to end up like the people on the county level.

Crazy stuff. I heard they will be doing away with office reporting each month also and go to some system where they just report changes on some call in system or something. Have you heard that also ?

No, I did not hear that the office standards will change. Our standards will be the same as the county folks in Indiana.

No, I did not hear that the office standards will change. Our standards will be the same as the county folks in Indiana.

Our CA said he heard that they will not see an actual officer each month unless there is a reason and will just report changes somehow starting in the next year or so. Sounds like way to get rid of some secretary positions also.

Oh, I could see some office closings! The cuts of officers will be very high!

Oh, I could see some office closings! The cuts of officers will be very high!

I thought he said no actual layoffs or is that just the prison side he was talking about.

I was told that Buss asked Nimer one thing. "You show me in the current policy where it is directed that any field officer is to have a reduced caseload" ?

Buss is right. I've been asking the same questions for years. When I was a PO1 I sure didn't have only 60 or 70 minimum cases. Sheesh - any offender with a violent charge or is a releasee or something other than a hot check writer gets bumped up to a PO2 or specialist. Come on people. What a waste of talent....spread it out a little by giving each class at least 40 hours of work a week.

If you look at his work in Indiana, it shows that he cut positions on the prison side for about three years. He had nothing to do with the community corrections side. But, he has addressed issues with Nimer and has asked her to have our caseloads in line with his old state!

He told the central office bosses that the caseloads for field officers should be much higher and the officers who do not have full caseloads will be offered other positions in the department? Now, how do we solve this issue?

Simple. Why not reclassify the positions and save money? For example, in Tampa we have certified officers getting special risk making over 50k to sit in the court house. Then we have a COM making over 65k who never supervised any employees in his life running around typing frivolous emails and running exceptions lists. Eliminate these positions and replace them with non-cert positions at half the pay. The more non-cert positions we increase the less typing and filing certified POs have to do so they can get out in the field where they belong; larger caseloads will then be possible. Central office can run exceptions lists and send frivolous emails to non-cert people to respond to. Why are PO's wasting time on typing "show size" or "FBI number" on a computer screen is beyond the scope of my comprehension. Buss MUST think not only is Nimer and idiot, but a few others as well. Why the heck have we sat back at let them turn us into non-functioning officers? We are supposed to protect the public and focus on victims......no more victims that is of course.

If you look at his work in Indiana, it shows that he cut positions on the prison side for about three years. He had nothing to do with the community corrections side. But, he has addressed issues with Nimer and has asked her to have our caseloads in line with his old state!

If it worked in his state then I'm all ears. What were the caseload sizes up there?

He asked Nimer why would any probation officer have a reduced caselaod? When he was told some of the reasons, he hit the roof. He asked why people in court or sitting behind a desk would be earning special risk? I think the free ride is about to end for those folks! But, I think we are all in for a rude awaking!

I think you can look the counties up on the computer. The size of caseloads look like what he is asking for here in Florida.

Spec 250-300

CPSO 200-250

Mainstream 50-200

All caseloads below 50 will be handled by unit sups.

How do any of you know what he said to Jenny Nimer? Were you there? Most of the chatter on this site is pure speculation But if you were there and heard him say it, then fine. I really don't care what Buss does or says. All I care about is what the legislature is going to do. Cut our pay 2-5%, get rid of DROP, screw us on health insurance, etc.. That's the only thing I care about. Give me a thousand people, I don't care, an increased caseload is temporary, a pay cut is forever. Don't mess with my rice bowl!

NorthStar, you will care when your rice bowl is empty. With the house and senate over 3/4 Rep and the Governor (Scott) the same, we are at the will of them all right now. So, now how do we fight this fight?

He told the central office bosses that the caseloads for field officers should be much higher and the officers who do not have full caseloads will be offered other positions in the department? Now, how do we solve this issue?

Simple. Why not reclassify the positions and save money? For example, in Tampa we have certified officers getting special risk making over 50k to sit in the court house. Then we have a COM making over 65k who never supervised any employees in his life running around typing frivolous emails and running exceptions lists. Eliminate these positions and replace them with non-cert positions at half the pay. The more non-cert positions we increase the less typing and filing certified POs have to do so they can get out in the field where they belong; larger caseloads will then be possible. Central office can run exceptions lists and send frivolous emails to non-cert people to respond to. Why are PO's wasting time on typing "show size" or "FBI number" on a computer screen is beyond the scope of my comprehension. Buss MUST think not only is Nimer and idiot, but a few others as well. Why the heck have we sat back at let them turn us into non-functioning officers? We are supposed to protect the public and focus on victims......no more victims that is of course.

Buss and them want travel costs down also. So they are not worried about all that. Only s.. offenders will have any priority going forward as far as field work goes probably.

Well, under his plan the mainstream officers will have to do the travel. His plan has the officers with the lowest caseloads supervising them. It will be either the unit sups or the mainstreams.

NorthStar, you will care when your rice bowl is empty. With the house and senate over 3/4 Rep and the Governor (Scott) the same, we are at the will of them all right now. So, now how do we fight this fight?

That was my point. Buss can't do anything for me. The only difference between him and McNeil is his name is Buss. I care about one thing and one thing only and that is money! The workload really doesn't phase me, there is only 8 hrs in a day, 40 hrs in a week. Remove rice from my bowl and I'm worried. You can put Donald Duck in Central Office, I don't care.

Get paid less and and have more work! This has happened to us for years! So, give me answers how we solve this problem? We do not need statements here, we need answers!

I'm not opposed to unit sups supervising a small caseload. But my question is, why are they not doing PSI's? What is wrong with this Dept anyway? Field officers who have full caseloads are being assigned PSIs and the unit sups sit in the office and fight the boredom with IT60s and spreadsheets. Doesn't anyone get the point that we're in for a serious meltdown? Professionals who are getting special risk need to do PO work which includes the sups too. If we have folks sitting at a desk suffering from paper cuts then take their special risk away and spend the money on more important things like supervising offenders.

Or like in 1979, just take special risk away from us all...

Get paid less and and have more work! This has happened to us for years! So, give me answers how we solve this problem? We do not need statements here, we need answers!

They need to reduce all the useless paperwork so officers can do their jobs. Why do I get assigned IT60s on addiction recovery offenders who are being released with 12 days of supervision? Why do I need to track down police reports for ARS cases? Why do we need to inspect the GPS equipment every single month and document it? Why can't we verify curfews with a phone call? Why are POs sending out victim letters to victims who were notified about the release by the prison? All this foolishness is NOT necessary and is taking up too much time better spent on working with the offenders.

Or like in 1979, just take special risk away from us all...

No. You're missing the point. They have *******ized the career field by utilizing POs to do administrative work. It's a scam!!!!! They should have converted the non-caseload positions over years ago.

Ok, let me tell you part of my theory. For ars cases the it60 will really stink. I will make sure that a re-view will be needed because i have done nothing! Well the police is not here! Guess, a re-view is needed! And, I think the gps stuff was tampered with, so they go to jail! As for curfew, just pick a day and a violation will follow! As for the victim letter, send and receive back and rip up the letter. Time for close out.. :lol: :lol:

Get paid less and and have more work! This has happened to us for years! So, give me answers how we solve this problem? We do not need statements here, we need answers!

There aren't any answers. We are screwed! That is just political reality! He with the gold makes the rules and scott and the GOP dominated legislature have all the gold!

Get paid less and and have more work! This has happened to us for years! So, give me answers how we solve this problem? We do not need statements here, we need answers!

They need to reduce all the useless paperwork so officers can do their jobs. Why do I get assigned IT60s on addiction recovery offenders who are being released with 12 days of supervision? Why do I need to track down police reports for ARS cases? Why do we need to inspect the GPS equipment every single month and document it? Why can't we verify curfews with a phone call? Why are POs sending out victim letters to victims who were notified about the release by the prison? All this foolishness is NOT necessary and is taking up too much time better spent on working with the offenders.

You don't want to do anything do you? :snicker: Why do we inspect GPS equipment every month? Why don't we just make phone calls to verify a curfew? What a deadbeat!

Hey, no fighting here! If you want to fight, go back the the stupid union crap. We are looking for answers here! Like I said, when looking at gps crap, I see a cut in the strap, they go to jail. When doing curfew (middle week) they are not home, they go to jail! :lol: :lol:

Get paid less and and have more work! This has happened to us for years! So, give me answers how we solve this problem? We do not need statements here, we need answers!

They need to reduce all the useless paperwork so officers can do their jobs. Why do I get assigned IT60s on addiction recovery offenders who are being released with 12 days of supervision? Why do I need to track down police reports for ARS cases? Why do we need to inspect the GPS equipment every single month and document it? Why can't we verify curfews with a phone call? Why are POs sending out victim letters to victims who were notified about the release by the prison? All this foolishness is NOT necessary and is taking up too much time better spent on working with the offenders.

I agree with the need to cut back on a lot of the paperwork and data entry tasks, there are things that the clerical staff can be doing instead of the officers.

I agree where it does not make any sense to assign an IT60 to an ARS case that will be terminate long before the investigation is due, just assign an other for specifics.

The GPS inspections could be a form of "cover the departments ass" and can be seen as one more way they can blame you, if something went wrong, that you had absolutley no control over.

Verifying curfews wouldn't work because too many people have cell phones.
As far answers, that question was asked previously, how do we as officer's compile our own lists as a collectuve unit and present that to th upper managment?

1. Lack of uniformity in policy and procedures, too many areas doing things differently from others, creating confusion and problems.
2. The inability to effectivley voice concerns and complaints, as professionals we should not have to fear retribution for voicing an opinion or concern.
3. Gross lack of resources within and out in the community
4. Our hands are tied behind our backs
5. Bond reduction investigations (huge waste of time)
6. Shall I even go there.... (the court systems)....
7. Too much redundant data entry and paperwork to justify someone elses position when we should be spending more time with the offenders rather than trying to get rid of X's and O's.
8. Issues of overtime when the circumstances dictate that you can't just drop what your doing and stop
9. Training.... (most of it is a joke)
10. and of course if it isn't bad enough that we haven't received a raise since 2006, they offer nothing besides the .45 a mile while we wear our personal vehicles out.
11. Morale is bad

I have to think about possible solutions, I just thought that I'd give this thread a start..peabody

1) When a supervisor says you are not following policy. You send them an e-mail requesting a copy of said policy and you ask them to e-mail you a reply as to why the policy is not covered the same way throughout the state?

2) Do not ever ask a supervisor for an answer unless it is in writing! No matter what the questions is at hand.

3) Sorry to say, the resourses are going to get worse! No answer there.

4) Not sure about your office? I handcuff every offender who has a active warrant! I have not had a problem yet! All offenders with warrants present a danger to all in the office.

5) Bond reductions? You must work in circuit 20. You need to start by e-mailing your boss and asking them why this work is not shown on the pp34?

6) As for court system, well I recommend the max for all offenders. When asked by the court, my answer is very easy.

7) The computer input crap sucks! Do as little as possiable and wait to get a request from your boss. I.G. when doing it60 make sure a re-view is needed. More work for me means more work for you!

No overtime, my work paperwork will mirror this fact! You get what you pay for here! Stop trying to be perfect! Even if you are, they do not care.

9) Ah trainning? Well again they will get what they put in. When a question arises, e-mail the boss and ask them to provide you with an answer. Because you have not been trained correctly on all issues.

10) No raise. Again, they will get what is paid for. If the work sucks, well so does the pay! Hey, we have seen the slacker get away with it for years!

11) Morale does suck. As a group of workers, have fun at the office. You are going to be there for a long time. Do not let anyone bring you down...

THESE ARE MY ATTEMPT AT ANSWERS.

Community Control cases on GPS should not have the same contact standards as CC cases without GPS.

I f Buss and the folks in Tallahasse have their way, we will have no communiy control, We will have no drug offender probation! The current budget calls for no money for either one! Look folks, you need to start thinking outside of the box here...

1) When a supervisor says you are not following policy. You send them an e-mail requesting a copy of said policy and you ask them to e-mail you a reply as to why the policy is not covered the same way throughout the state?

2) Do not ever ask a supervisor for an answer unless it is in writing! No matter what the questions is at hand.

3) Sorry to say, the resourses are going to get worse! No answer there.

4) Not sure about your office? I handcuff every offender who has a active warrant! I have not had a problem yet! All offenders with warrants present a danger to all in the office.

5) Bond reductions? You must work in circuit 20. You need to start by e-mailing your boss and asking them why this work is not shown on the pp34?

6) As for court system, well I recommend the max for all offenders. When asked by the court, my answer is very easy.

7) The computer input crap sucks! Do as little as possiable and wait to get a request from your boss. I.G. when doing it60 make sure a re-view is needed. More work for me means more work for you!

No overtime, my work paperwork will mirror this fact! You get what you pay for here! Stop trying to be perfect! Even if you are, they do not care.

9) Ah trainning? Well again they will get what they put in. When a question arises, e-mail the boss and ask them to provide you with an answer. Because you have not been trained correctly on all issues.

10) No raise. Again, they will get what is paid for. If the work sucks, well so does the pay! Hey, we have seen the slacker get away with it for years!

11) Morale does suck. As a group of workers, have fun at the office. You are going to be there for a long time. Do not let anyone bring you down...

THESE ARE MY ATTEMPT AT ANSWERS.

What office is that for # 4 ?

I f Buss and the folks in Tallahasse have their way, we will have no communiy control, We will have no drug offender probation! The current budget calls for no money for either one! Look folks, you need to start thinking outside of the box here...

Yes we will at least this coming year they are just funding it as a package now and will ignore or elimnate the caseload language.

I think Mr. Buss can help out by approaching the legislature and asking them to assist us by sponsoring some common sense measures such as placing ARS cases with less than 60 days on administrative supervision or streamlining the placements for sex offenders by standardizing one 1,000 foot rule for all. This stuff is just common sense and will reduce sooooo much foolishness upon release.

I think every single task a PO is required to do should be justified. If it's not necessary then it should be eliminated or reassigned and accomplished by a non-certified clerical person. Do the math - if we only have 40 hours a week than we will only be able to focus on a few main tasks when caseloads get higher. Has anyone ever sat down and figured out how much time is spent face to face with offenders as it is now?

At the end of the day, I could really care less about how many cases I have assigned to me. As long as I can do what I'm required to do in 40 hours or less then what difference does it make? All I would like to emphasize is that central office really needs to streamline the job for POs or we will all implode on ourselves really soon. Stop the madness with the main focus of the job on the pp89's. Seriously, it makes the sups and managers look like incompetent boobs.

All Mr. Buss needs to do is figure out how a PO could manage a caseload, regardless of the size, in 40 hours or less. In other words, if the required tasks for each case take more than an hour a week, then obviously assigning more than 40 cases is unrealistic. So if the goal is to raise our caseloads then the minimum required tasks must be reduced. I'd suggest starting with tasks like paperwork and computer work. The minimum required contacts could probably be lowered for the lowest risk cases. Morale should not be affected if we can realistically get our job done and continue to provide an excellent service to the community.

Yea, with 250-300 cases we will all be paper pushers! Forget the field work. And since we will not need to do field work, why be in special risk? Why carry a firearm? When they present one problem, many problems happen on our side! :shock:

Carrying a firearm is optional. Let's focus instead on what services we can provide the public with larger caseloads.

Indiana just started puling what we did during zero tolerance when Buss gutted the prison and parole people there. When a case goes bad and something wasn't done by policy due to very high caseloads they just fire the parole officer and say he/she didn't follow policy. Heck DCF has always done that and DJJ for the most part so I guess they could start doing us like that again while saying to keep the violations down for re-entry.

Carrying a firearm is optional. Let's focus instead on what services we can provide the public with larger caseloads.

The reality this is probation, parole and POLITICS (PP & P). This is not about what case loads or supervision its about how much money can we take from the DC? Now the prisons are closing 6 so the next to be expected is Community Corrections are supposed to do their part! I have worked with regular probation case loads of 130 for a year now not because I want to but because management refuses to commit to Senior officers and specialist taking on their fair share of the case load. I will give you Sex Offenders with full sex offender case loads are doing their job but everything beyond that is a farse. An offender whether on CC, DOP or regular probation still presents the same problems. Dont tell me about DOP drug testing when I am the only male in the office and called upon to witness the male samples because the DOPS are two females. Dont tell me about CC when the CC officers are nowhere to be found and I answer all their silly questions as OFFICER OF THE DAY! This agency has been, is and will for always be SCREWED UP.

Carrying a firearm is optional. Let's focus instead on what services we can provide the public with larger caseloads.

The reality this is probation, parole and POLITICS (PP & P). This is not about what case loads or supervision its about how much money can we take from the DC? Now the prisons are closing 6 so the next to be expected is Community Corrections are supposed to do their part! I have worked with regular probation case loads of 130 for a year now not because I want to but because management refuses to commit to Senior officers and specialist taking on their fair share of the case load. I will give you sex Offenders with full sex offender case loads are doing their job but everything beyond that is a farse. An offender whether on CC, DOP or regular probation still presents the same problems. Dont tell me about DOP drug testing when I am the only male in the office and called upon to witness the male samples because the DOPS are two females. Dont tell me about CC when the CC officers are nowhere to be found and I answer all their silly questions as OFFICER OF THE DAY! This agency has been, is and will for always be SCREWED UP.

They ignore the caseload restrictions where I am at so the officers have to pull their load. CC still has it a little easier however but they can have that as far as I am concerned if they have around 25 actual CC cases.

Well, if Buss has his way we will not have cc or dop anymore. The caseloads will be crazy.

Honestly, did any of you actually hear with your own two ears, Mr. Buss saying any of this stuff you are claiming? I highly doubt it. Please, just the facts and knock off the rumors.

Here is one fact, if you look at the current budget you will see that there is no money funded for cc or dop. If you look at budgets in years past, you will see a break down. Heck the past budgets even show how much money is needed for treatment! The current budget has none! It list monies needed for c/c and it has a big fat zero. It list monies needed for dop and has a big fat zero. So what does that tell you? :(

Here is one fact, if you look at the current budget you will see that there is no money funded for cc or dop. If you look at budgets in years past, you will see a break down. Heck the past budgets even show how much money is needed for treatment! The current budget has none! It list monies needed for c/c and it has a big fat zero. It list monies needed for dop and has a big fat zero. So what does that tell you? :(

They want it all funded under the same thing for flexibilty and to get rid of caseload restrictions I heard even though most places don't follow them a whole lot now anyway.

It is going to be real scary!

I heard the caseload counts were going to be in the hundreds? There is no way we can do the job correctly with that many cases!

I heard the caseload counts were going to be in the hundreds? There is no way we can do the job correctly with that many cases!

Of course we can if they change the job. The job as we know it with 39 hours of computer entry per week will obviously be a has been. And this is a bad thing because..........?????

I heard the caseload counts were going to be in the hundreds? There is no way we can do the job correctly with that many cases!

Of Course we can!! They've already started to down grade MAX cases to MIN - including DOP cases which were always considered MAX. Pretty soon we'll have 50 MAX cases and 50 MIN cases. We'll spend most of the time in the office and if someone calls to tell us an offender has guns or drugs we;ll just refer them to the real LEO's and do the violation if the local S.O. decides to take a look.

I don't get a lot of you people. I bust my butt for about two weeks and then I'm bored most of the time. Some of you need classes in time management or you just need to understand the meaning of the word: work. This job is a piece of cake. It's the low pay that sucks!

I don't get a lot of you people. I bust my butt for about two weeks and then I'm bored most of the time. Some of you need classes in time management or you just need to understand the meaning of the word: work. This job is a piece of cake. It's the low pay that sucks!

There are certainly a hand full of positions that are simply being wasted. You aren't the only person that suffers from boredom. Unit sups are severely under utilized too. Without question they need to realign a few positions besides the court officer positions. I can assure you that the average specialist with 15 or 20 JLA cases is far from bored and can use the help from some of the officers fighting to stay awake during duty.

Well, when each Spec has 250-300 cases they will not be bored anymore. The CPSO will have 200-250 cases and the bored ones will be the mainstreams with 50-200 cases. Some unit sup's will have the caseloads that are under 50 cases. And, his plam calls for any officer without a caseload to be offered another position within the department ( what ever that means) to him?

GEO will tell you what your issues are soon enough.

you cannot screw with the spec's. These guys work there butts off every day. In my office we have 2, and they usually dont have time to do anything but watch GPS and PC. If you screw with the Spec's numbers your asking for bad things to happen. Really lets face it, they usually know more then most sups and, we really cant do without them. However we really can do without some sups. If you have not been a spec for at least 2 years then you should not qualify to be s sup at all.

These changes are going to effect all of us who do supervision.

I wonder if they will ever put a cap on how many GPS cases an officer can have. Does central office know how long it takes to review the points every day?

It does not matter how long it takes you! With 250-300 cases, all your time is going to be in the office. We will not be doing field work. We will be just like the county probation officers.

I don't get a lot of you people. I bust my butt for about two weeks and then I'm bored most of the time. Some of you need classes in time management or you just need to understand the meaning of the word: work. This job is a piece of cake. It's the low pay that sucks!

What circuit do you work in, I am transferring there, takes me to the end of the month before I can make stats. And I work through lunch and stay late. That is non stop there is no free time

If you look at the court officers in Tampa you will see that many of them have a caseload of about 10 cases. Also, if you look at many of the Specialist who handle gps, you will see that they are the same with only about 10 to 15 cases. As a Specialist and a prior court officer I know what easy street is when doing both jobs.

Also, in many circuits if you look at the intake office you will see many cpo and cpso with caseloads of 20 or less active cases.

And I think we "ALL" should carry the same amount of active cases!

I think some posters might be taking a few comments personally. This is not personal at all. Either we need certain functions done by P&P staff or we don't. If the task is administrative in nature then obviously wasting resources by filling the job with certified staff is mismanagement at best. The same goes for equalizing caseloads. We still have folks with partial caseloads as well as specialists with NO GPS cases assigned. Why isn't anyone steering the ship around here?

"BULL" You go to school and get certified to supervise offenders. You get special risk because you supervise offenders. If your job consisted of sitting in court and kissing the judges a##, you would not get special risk. If your job was to sit in an office and count gps crap, you would not get special risk. No one here is taking it personal, we are saying one thing, get off your a## and do the job that the rest of us have been doing for years.

Lets break it down for a office

5 CPO's and the office has 1,000 mainstream cases= 200 per officer

5 CPSO's and you have 1,000 c/c or dop cases=200 per officer

2 Spec and you have 400 high risk cases=200 per officer

This is the way Buss thinks the break down should be per office! No more, awe I am a court officer and can only have 20 cases! All the cases should be equal per officer!

Lets break it down for a office

5 CPO's and the office has 1,000 mainstream cases= 200 per officer

5 CPSO's and you have 1,000 c/c or dop cases=200 per officer

2 Spec and you have 400 high risk cases=200 per officer

This is the way Buss thinks the break down should be per office! No more, awe I am a court officer and can only have 20 cases! All the cases should be equal per officer!

Have you or anyone else done the math? I don't know how many cases we have overall, but based on the ratios you posted, what does that mean as far as how many cuts we might be looking at? Just curious.

There will be cuts again! It just a matter of how many will lose their job this time? As I understand the numbers, the Spec are to have 250-300 cases. The CPSO are to have 200-250 cases and the mainstreams are to have 50-200 cases. Any caseload lower than 50 will be handled by a unit supervisor. The sex offenders will be supervised by either the unit sup's or the mainstream officer with the most time! Those officers who do not have a caseload will be offered another job within the department? Really not sure what that means at this point?

There will be cuts again! It just a matter of how many will lose their job this time? As I understand the numbers, the Spec are to have 250-300 cases. The CPSO are to have 200-250 cases and the mainstreams are to have 50-200 cases. Any caseload lower than 50 will be handled by a unit supervisor. The sex offenders will be supervised by either the unit sup's or the mainstream officer with the most time! Those officers who do not have a caseload will be offered another job within the department? Really not sure what that means at this point?

Why wouldn't the sex offenders be supervised by Specialists since they are the ones who are already trained on sex offender issues and GPS?

I don't get a lot of you people. I bust my butt for about two weeks and then I'm bored most of the time. Some of you need classes in time management or you just need to understand the meaning of the word: work. This job is a piece of cake. It's the low pay that sucks!

What circuit do you work in, I am transferring there, takes me to the end of the month before I can make stats. And I work through lunch and stay late. That is non stop there is no free time


I have around 90- 100 cases on the street and I am bored about 60% of the time. I have very few O's & R's on my 89 and I'm always 100% nlt the 20th every month. My secret? When I come to work, I bust my butt without socializing, taking needless breaks etc.. take a hour lunch only. It really is that simple and I am serious. I just work quickly. That's it.

The officers with the smallest caseloads will get to supervise the sex offenders. I can see the writing on the wall. They are going to make sure each office has two unit supervisor with a caseload of 50 sex offender. Not sure what they are going to do with any of the small offices in the state.

you cannot screw with the spec's. These guys work there butts off every day. In my office we have 2, and they usually dont have time to do anything but watch GPS and PC. If you screw with the Spec's numbers your asking for bad things to happen. Really lets face it, they usually know more then most sups and, we really cant do without them. However we really can do without some sups. If you have not been a spec for at least 2 years then you should not qualify to be s sup at all.

Hmm? In my office, that is the laziest group we have! They don't do nothing, except get out of work.

"I have around 90- 100 cases on the street and I am bored about 60% of the time. I have very few O's & R's on my 89 and I'm always 100% nlt the 20th every month. My secret? When I come to work, I bust my butt without socializing, taking needless breaks etc.. take a hour lunch only. It really is that simple and I am serious. I just work quickly. That's it"


Well, come back to us when your caseload is about 250 active! Or, you do not have a job. Why in the hell would you tell people that you are bored? And you wonder why Buss wants us to have 300 on our caseload! :shock: :devil:

Also, to the super officer with 90-100 cases. How many PSI's do you do a month? How many max cases do you have right now? Of these active Max cases, do you see them at home (face to face) every month or do you live by the AP each month? I look at the mainstreams in my office with caseloads of 100 and of these, 8 to 12 are max. So, before you come here and bang your chest, you should think first before blabing to everyone!

Did Buss tell you that or did your buddy on smoke break tell you that's what he heard. Not one person on this board heard Buss saying anything about caseload size! Rumor and propaganda. Yes, I'm still bored!

Also, to the super officer with 90-100 cases. How many PSI's do you do a month? How many max cases do you have right now? Of these active Max cases, do you see them at home (face to face) every month or do you live by the AP each month? I look at the mainstreams in my office with caseloads of 100 and of these, 8 to 12 are max. So, before you come here and bang your chest, you should think first before blabing to everyone!


I do one PSI every other month plus a Bond Reduction once a month. I'm also an ICOTS officer. I have 29 max cases at this time. Next question?

Well, crap if you are going to bullshit us all on the first question, why would we ask you another one? :roll: :roll:

Bullshit on what question?

We sure hope you do better with the offenders! Your B/S does not work here! You must be a rookie. :roll:

Well it looks like our main issue now is privatization.

No, our main issue is to fire the lazy folks who let this all happen! That would be pba and it's current leadership of Gil, Mark, Fred and Tammy! Then we can bring in a real union like the Teamsters! A lot of people wasted money on pba for many years. That is about to come to aend soon... :D

IF YOU ASK ME (which of course you wouldnt if you knew me) ITS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!


Well it looks like our main issue now is privatization.

No, our main issue is to fire the lazy folks who let this all happen! That would be pba and it's current leadership of Gil, Mark, Fred and Tammy! Then we can bring in a real union like the Teamsters! A lot of people wasted money on pba for many years. That is about to come to aend soon... :D

Doubt anyone joins a union if we are privatized. If the teamsters are so great why did they let this happen if they want to represent us ? Powerless also I guess.

You forget how work got here? We have pba as our voice. And I guess they are not doing their jobs! Don't you wonder where all the money from dues has gone for the last ten years? We all should be asking for the state attorney office in Tallahassee for a complete investigation! They are nothing but crooks.

You forget how work got here? We have pba as our voice. And I guess they are not doing their jobs! Don't you wonder where all the money from dues has gone for the last ten years? We all should be asking for the state attorney office in Tallahassee for a complete investigation! They are nothing but crooks.

No - we got here because Rick Scott got elected and there is an all out attack on unions now.

And pba is just sitting and watching it all happen. You put money in and they spend it. But, not on us or the members. Just on them.

And pba is just sitting and watching it all happen. You put money in and they spend it. But, not on us or the members. Just on them.


First of all the board members have little to do with nothing if you want to know the truth. Their main function is to keep the main lobbyiests informed as to the needs of the membership... Right now the men who lobby the legislature are the ones fighting hard for us at this time. They deserve all of our backing and prayers because they are the best and are trying to do their best. On EPBA is Matt Pucketts email. You can write him but right now he is extremly busy.