Questions for Cokonougher
I am fully aware of the risk law enforcement officers take every day of their career on the street, but I am also concerned about a threat that occurs every 4 years. Deputies are commonly concerned with being seen speaking to or openly supporting anyone who opposes the sitting Sheriff for fear of being targeted in the aftermath.
For this reason, I am offering a secure way that the law enforcement community can ask questions without fear of being identified. LEO Affairs has a long-standing reputation for ensuring members, and non-members alike have their identities protected if they so choose. LEO Affairs has defeated court action initiated by a sitting Sheriff, twice in Florida Courts after refusing to turn over IP addresses or any other material that could be used to identify those who use their forums. It is time for the Deputies voices to be heard.
I have active social media on Facebook, and Twitter. I have a website and email where you can contact me, but this is by far the most anonymous I can make it. I want to offer the opportunity to the officers in the field to question me directly because they have daily contact with the citizens of the county and have direct knowledge what they need to serve the community effectively.
I am beginning a thread on LEO Affairs for Deputies and others who fear reprisal to ask questions directly to me. I will address platform, policy, budget, and rumors.
If you can not or don’t feel comfortable contacting me on any of my other platforms, please contact me here.
Question about cooperation
I am interested in what you have to say and was concerned that there is a possibility that the Sheriff's Dept and cities didn't work together well. I got some information from various sources that I wonder if you can confirm.
Does the Sheriff's department still send people to most of the city council meetings?
Was there recently a very successful joint street crimes operation that included all the affected agencies, i think it was "wolf hunter?"
I remember seeing something on the facebook page that the Sheriff officers worked side by side with Police officers at the Billy Bowlegs events, is that still going on?
Thank you for talking to people like this and good luck with your campaign.
Reducing Turnover and Improving Morale
Law enforcement is constantly changing and in turn, the agency must be willing to change and adapt to the latest conditions. Long gone are the days of accepting the idea that “this is the way we have always done it” and expect that argument to suffice.
Turnover is here to stay, the best we can hope to do is limit it. The new generation of the officer is likely to move to multiple agencies throughout their career, and while this is not always easy, it does provide an opportunity to bring in ideas from outside areas to be used in Okaloosa.
Limiting the turnover is going to involve several steps:
1. Training: We have to offer it, it has to be relevant, we have to have it well planned and organized, and we have to send our officers to it on duty. I don’t want them going on duty to cut overtime pay; I want them going on duty because they need to be off with their family when it is time to be off. All officers want to know their Sheriff is willing to invest in them. I plan on working towards regional training so we can save money on training locations, equipment, and instructor costs while bringing in top quality courses. Commitment to proper training makes better officers and improves our work in the community.
2. Job Satisfaction: Law enforcement is full of highs and lows, but I believe job satisfaction is tied to several things, pay, autonomy, organizational stress.
· There is only so much money I can pay based on total budget and capital outlay requirements, but I am already looking at cutting middle management positions so we can put more officers on the road. It is time for line officers to have less interference when trying to communicate with the command staff of the agency.
· Autonomy gives deputies ownership of their work product, and I believe that officers should be able to not only address immediate crime issues but long-term community problems. The policy should be that we do good in our work. If good requires someone to go to jail, then I expect them to be arrested without hesitation, but if good requires us to coordinate with another social service organization to help a community, then I expect officers to take the initiative to help.
· Finally organizational stress, not occupational stress is the number one concern of law enforcement officers across the country. None of us go to work stressed out that today we may get into a car chase and catch a bank robber. We live for that kind of day. However, we do go to work concerned about what new policy or procedure has been added without line level input to the long list of things we already have to do. We must have policy, but it must reflect ideas that work on the streets and, therefore, should be vetted by those on the streets.
3. Loyalty: Loyalty is a two-way street, so if an officer gives me three good years of work from which we can judge your work ethic, ability, and commitment, I will personally call the Chief, Sheriff, or another Commanding Officer of the agency you want to work with and provide a recommendation. I know this seems to be counterproductive, but I have accepted that turnover is the reality of law enforcement, and while I may lose an officer helping them live out their dreams, I hope they go on to their new agency and tell them that Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office will take care of good officers. I want Deputies to stay, and I want the agency to be once again a family, but if you want to go, I will not hold you back. Living in fear that someone might find out and sneaking around when you apply for a job is unacceptable.
As for morale, I have seen administrations that believe that morale is not their problem, but that is not the case. Morale is a direct reflection on the administration and high morale is the result of a the work environment. High morale produces better service to the community and therefore should be the administrations concern. All you need to do is look at some of the other regional agencies, and you can see this to be fact. The benefit of my turnover reduction plan is morale will improve because the agency will be meeting the basic needs of the Deputies and their family so the Deputies can focus on Safer Streets and Stronger Communities.
Joint ops, other agency relationships, and morale
The OCSO and numerous municipalities participated in Operation Overwatch a few months ago. This joint operation was extremely successful and all involved agencies worked together flawlessly arresting multiple suspects on drug, gun, and numerous other charges all over the county.
The majority of local LEO's from the different agencies get along just fine, and often back each other on calls for service and traffic stops. They spend time with each other off duty, and several of our kids play together. While some of the leaders don't see eye-to-eye, it doesn't trickle down into the rank and file very much. While there will always be folks that just don't get along with others, they're the minority.
As far as morale, I think it's better now than it has been in several years. Sure, you'll always have folks that like to complain and won't ever be happy no matter what's going on. It's impossible to please everyone, and the small majority of people that make the most noise are usually the ones with disciplinary issues, or slackers that fuss because their supervisors make them work. They're all responsible for their unhappiness, and it's those organizational terrorists that cause 95% of your morale issues.