Just a Thought

Next month in October MSO starting pay goes to $38,928 according to their HR and the Sheriff but they work 6 extra hours a pay period.

If our starting pay goes to $37,000 in October and we work 6 additional hours we would make $39,773. That is at the hourly rate not even time and a half which would be $42,547.

I think we are getting a better deal especially with full retirement with 20 years and age 45.

Am I wrong?

Ummmm Yes you are

We are not going to work an extra six hours a week unless we go to twelve hour shifts. The bottom line here is that we ALL need a raise not just the people coming into the department. What is the point of hiring quality people if we cant KEEP them?

At every single contract meeting I keep hearing the city talk about taking care of the new guys. They want to pay the 1-5 year officers the best. They believe this is the best possible way to ratify this contract because approximately fifty percent of the department is in this category. I , however, disagree. I think that the 4-7 year officers should be taken care of and get the highest percent raises.

The truth of the matter is that in your first three years in law enforcement you are simply learning this job and becoming comfortable. In years 4-7 is when you are truly a well rounded officer and giving the city the best return for it's money.

If you give the 1-3 year officers the most raise you leave no incentive to stay...that's obvious based on our percentage of officers in this range. The proposal the city keeps trying to push makes young officers want to do a few years here then leave and go to another agency. Oh yeah, most agencies will pay you for your experience.

Lastly, the city can not be fairly compared to MSO, Sarasota P.D. or the Sarasota SO. I agree with the COB on this, however, not because of the tax revenue. The COB has a lower crime rate and a higher case closure rate. The crime rate has dropped astronomically in the last three years. MSO, Sarasota P.D and Sarasota SO can't compete with our performance. Based on this...we are the best....it's time to pay us for the fruits of our labor.

LMAO Now that's funny !!!!!

Funny but true. While crime is up in the County and the "Box" has your attention we have reduced crime--10 percent alone last year which includes violent crime. So yeah we are doing a better job. Our citizens do not have to wait 40 minutes for a Deputy to show up and then call FHP cause MSO does not work accidents. Yeah, we are now the REAL POLICE.

BPD Girl you missed the fact that 'just a thought' was saying.

If we worked as many paid hours as MSO with a starting salary of $37,000 then we would actually be making more than them.

And State retirement is age 55 and ours is 45.

And lets be truthful - in the last contact the senior guys took care of themselves-just look at the raises they gave themselves compared to us just starting out. So now its time to take care of the young guys starting pay and we say no-give us the money again. Its all about "me"

Lets just get what we can and go for a two year contract. The city council is NOT going to raise taxes this year. Lets move on.

I guess its easy to keep some of your UCR codes down when your coding burglaries as thefts.

Here we go again--a THEFT is a UCR crime. Changing a Burglary to a theft does not reduce your UCR. You need to come up with something else and not show how uninformed you are about the UCR.
I see you don't mention by you of how few Murders, Rapes, and Robberies we have compared to the County and other cities. I agree with a previous post looks like we are the REAL POLICE NOW! Be jealous!! :D

For your info we only work a physical 84 hour pay peiod 2 hours is for vehicle maintnance. Second we dont have to pay into our retirement the state takes care of that, futhermore we dont pay for insurance the county pays our insurance unless you have dependants but the deputy still doesnt pay for him or herself. Take home cars is a perk, and im not talking about a used beater left over from the pool were talking 80 brand new models every year. Which equates to a new car every three years for the deputy. Ive been here almost 9 years and have had 4 brand new cars. Training there is no comparing we have better resources. Don't forget the wider range of oppritunity at the Sheriff's Office (Different Units, special teams). Its funny I work with you guys very frequently and know most of you at BPD very well and all I hear is negative remarks about you contracts, and morale. Just jump ship if your not happy and stop trying to compare departments. Cause if 95% of your officers ones of which I know came and put in an application you would be enjoying the same benifits that we do. Something to think about City of Bradenton's Population 55,364, County of Manatee's Population minus the city 306779. No comparisons when dealing with tax base so its not even fare to compare. As for crime its everywhere and no ones numbers mean squat because not all crime is reported or documented. I wish the best of luck to you guys and hope the give you a decent salery I dont care if its close to ours or not. Dont be mad the county were willing to pay you. Its your city and is deligates that dont want to pay you for the same job we all do. But your right keep making you mayor and chief look good for peanuts. Remember the doors always open If not for you then for some inexperianced rookie thats going make more then you walking right in the door. Keep up the fight!

Hey MSO we must have struck a nerve with our friendly jawing. Just Relax.

If you want to help us talk to your Sheriff. Our Citizens in the City pay millions in County tax each year for Law Enforcement that you do not supply. Yes you do the jail and some other things but it does not add up to the millions we pay each year in taxes to the County. Cut out unfair LE taxes and the County and you can bill us for what you do for us and we could be better funded.

MSO may have a lot of things we can argue about in your post but if you're training is that great why so many problems so often with ethics?

And you may get your wish. The City is looking at consoladation with MSO. Why not the PBA is greedy and they already pay taxes to the County for Law Enforcement. BPD may be no more soon and we have only ourselves to blame.

Believe me, I am informed about the UCR codes because I looked into it once I heard this. Yes theft is a crime but when citizens look at the statistics, which are they going to be freaked out about? The number of burglaries near their homes or the number of thefts. So either BPD officials are trying to make the burglary statistics go down and impress the citizens by telling them, "well criminals aren't breaking in as much anymore", or they just cant read the statute and realize that they are labeling it the wrong crime. Not to keep this thing going but one more question that I need to know the answer to. If you catch someone breaking into a car do you charge them with burglary or theft?

Ethics? Heck every deparment has the bad ones. You're telling me that BPD doesnt have officers with "ethics" problems. LOL, that's a good one. There isnt an agency in the world that doesnt have a bad apple or two. I work with your officers often and for the most part they are a great bunch but lately it was our turn the make the papers. Don't worry once they are done ripping us up it may be your turn. It seems to go from you to us to you to us, so we shall see what will happen in the next few months.

As far as the UCR goes we don't make Burglarys into thefts-it serves no purpose. I have never seen that. Make sure you have the elements of the crime and no one makes you change it. If you change it or are told to you tell to take it higher on the food chain. Look at the UCR for crimes per 1,000 residents thats the number that counts.

Now let me say something about our retirement vs State. Yes we pay into it and within 3 years after retirement we have gotten all our money back. Ask any Accountant and he will tell you money our retirement at 45 even tho we pay into it is worth way more than a State employee not paying into it and retiring 10 years later.

Now every dept has problems from time to time. It just MSO has had a rash of moral issues lately. We feel for you-we may be next.

That said lets stop fighting both department have good things the other dosent have etc.

What we should be conserned about is consoladation. Seems to be a trend around Tampa right now.

Actually we DO turn an auto Burglary in to a "Larceny" from a vehicle which in turn DOES effect the way the UCR codes are interpreted. Anyone who tell's you different is just plain wrong! The facts are the facts!! Last I checked a simple theft was a Misdemeanor and Every Burglary was a Felony :?

Dhuuuuuu.....its still a ucr crime -- if you have 10 burglaries you have 10 ucr crimes....if you change them as you say to misd. thefts you still have 10 ucr crimes!!!!!!It does not affect the crimes per 1,000 residents which is the nunber looked at.

And I and every one I work with don't change crime if you do, you should report it. Grow some and speak up!!!!