Morale

I am an Orlando police officer. I have been with the agency for over thirteen years. This new program was put in place by the Chief and it has morale at the lowest that I have seen in my whole career. This program in NOT supported by the rank and file Officer. We hate it, but have no recourse. This was developed and instituted by the rank of Deputy Chief and above. We have to attempt to follow the program or suffer the consequences. Like everyone else officers have children, families and other obligations beyond work. We have arranged our lives around a basic work schedule. If an emergency arises or the community needs us then we will work whatever is needed until the problem is resolved. I am talking about a base work schedule. Changing our schedule to midnights or an opposite days rotation is one of the tools that the administration is using against us. If we don't play ball then it is off to midnights. Several officers have been moved already for sole purpose of discipline and to make an example for their program. They are making officers take shifts on the transport van as punishment for low statistics. The shifts are not very long so this has not had the intended result. That is why the administration is moving toward permanent transfers as the fear motivator. This is counter productive and a disservice to the citizens. We are forced to alter our enforcement actions to have the high stats that the chief wants. Yes, the Chief. All squad stat reports are forwarded directly to her office. She is the architect of the program and uses the Deputy Chiefs as the enforcement arm via the Division Captains. I now write tickets where I might have given a verbal warning and make an arrest where I might have filed the case with the SAO or given a warning. Officer are using all kinds of tricks to increase our stats to stay off of the bottom five list. I am on the inside and I can tell you it is not serving the citizens.Every squad has to submit the names of the two worst officers every month. Even if the whole squad works hard the Sgt. still has to submit two names for potential punishment. The Capt. then takes these list and makes the five worst list for the division. This does not bread production. It breeds resentment and fear. The individual officer has no voice in the process. If you disagree then you become part of the problem. This program presents legal problems that the administration will not recognize. Two officers from every squad are labeled "the worst officer" even if they have worked hard. Every squad MUST have two. When we have to go to court and depositions this label can be used against us to discredit our testimony. That can be all it takes to cast doubt in a jurors mind. I have worked hard for an honest and hard working reputation. I have already been labeled "the worst" once. It is not a good feeling when you are doing your best.If you have a problem with this program please direct you feeling towards the Chiefs office. When you see an Officer on the street realize that we being forced to participate out of fear of retribution. I enjoy serving the citizens of Orlando and would like to do it without being forced into certain enforcement actions. With the current budget crisis in play we are probably going to suffer layoffs and hiring and pay freezes. This is not the time for these kinds of dysfunctional parent games.

I am an Orlando police officer. I have been with the agency for over thirteen years. This new program was put in place by the Chief and it has morale at the lowest that I have seen in my whole career. This program in NOT supported by the rank and file Officer. We hate it, but have no recourse. This was developed and instituted by the rank of Deputy Chief and above. We have to attempt to follow the program or suffer the consequences. Like everyone else officers have children, families and other obligations beyond work. We have arranged our lives around a basic work schedule. If an emergency arises or the community needs us then we will work whatever is needed until the problem is resolved. I am talking about a base work schedule. Changing our schedule to midnights or an opposite days rotation is one of the tools that the administration is using against us. If we don't play ball then it is off to midnights. Several officers have been moved already for sole purpose of discipline and to make an example for their program. They are making officers take shifts on the transport van as punishment for low statistics. The shifts are not very long so this has not had the intended result. That is why the administration is moving toward permanent transfers as the fear motivator. This is counter productive and a disservice to the citizens. We are forced to alter our enforcement actions to have the high stats that the chief wants. Yes, the Chief. All squad stat reports are forwarded directly to her office. She is the architect of the program and uses the Deputy Chiefs as the enforcement arm via the Division Captains. I now write tickets where I might have given a verbal warning and make an arrest where I might have filed the case with the SAO or given a warning. Officer are using all kinds of tricks to increase our stats to stay off of the bottom five list. I am on the inside and I can tell you it is not serving the citizens.Every squad has to submit the names of the two worst officers every month. Even if the whole squad works hard the Sgt. still has to submit two names for potential punishment. The Capt. then takes these list and makes the five worst list for the division. This does not bread production. It breeds resentment and fear. The individual officer has no voice in the process. If you disagree then you become part of the problem. This program presents legal problems that the administration will not recognize. Two officers from every squad are labeled "the worst officer" even if they have worked hard. Every squad MUST have two. When we have to go to court and depositions this label can be used against us to discredit our testimony. That can be all it takes to cast doubt in a jurors mind. I have worked hard for an honest and hard working reputation. I have already been labeled "the worst" once. It is not a good feeling when you are doing your best.If you have a problem with this program please direct you feeling towards the Chiefs office. When you see an Officer on the street realize that we being forced to participate out of fear of retribution. I enjoy serving the citizens of Orlando and would like to do it without being forced into certain enforcement actions. With the current budget crisis in play we are probably going to suffer layoffs and hiring and pay freezes. This is not the time for these kinds of dysfunctional parent games.

As a former LEO, I could not agree with you more. Your Chief has completely taken away officer discretion and created an environment of fear. Maybe she should call former Broward Sheriff, Ken Jenne, and ask him what happened as a result of his stat driven POWERTRAC program. That agency is still trying to recover from a long investigation and low morale that may never be recover. Law enforcement action should not be contest between officers.

Maybe I'm missing part of the picture here but how can Chief Demings reward and punish officers based purely on stats when, everyone in law enforcement knows, each call is unique and some calls take longer to process? Working a Signal 4 with severe injuries and major property damage may take all shift as opposed to catching multiple dispatched calls. Did the officer with one call/report do a worse job than the other officer who at the end of the day may have more arrests/reports? Maybe Chief Demings is the one who needs to "get to work" since she seems to have forgotten what police work is like in the "real" world. I suggest she get down off of her "high horse" and catch some calls...I'd like to see what her stats would be at the end of the month. There are many qualities that make up a good officer...shame Chief Demings doesn't seem to value those as highly as she does numbers on a piece of paper.

No wonder my friends at OPD are stressed out all the time...

Can I remind you all that 10-50's and 10-15's are not the only stats looked at when you are ranked. I can bet you a month of paychecks that any officer who complains about the chief's policy is a dirtbag who needs to go or should not be here in the first place. I am sick of hearing whiners complaining about the policy. She's one of the better chief's we have had in my career and I am not on the Lt. or Sgt's list so you can't use the excuse that I'm a kissa$$. If you are to worthless to pull over 3 cars or take a couple of calls for service a day in a 12 hour shift then you need a swift kick in the butt. Look at the list and see the names, if you have been here for 13 years then you KNOW the guys and girls on that list are some of the most worthless pieces of garbage we have that should be ashamed to wear our patch on their sleeve. I can't see how you can disagree...unless your on the list! :shock:

After reading the posts I am one of the guys who submits the list to my LT. every month and I have to pick my two lowest guys. I don't enjoy picking them but I have enough faith in them to know that they are NEVER the two lowest for the divison. Do you even realize how low your stats have to be to make the bottom five. I also don't understand your point about filing a case with the SAO or making a physical arrest, they both count in your favor as a "N" or an "O" so what does it matter, in fact filing the case requires an Alpha so that helps you out even more. I also don't understand the posters point about getting an "in-depth" S-4... so what everybody in patrol gets an "in-depth" goatrope a couple of times in fifteen 12 hour shifts a month but NOBODY gets a goatrope everyday unless they want it so they can goof off all shift. The fact is if you are not a member of this agency then you have no idea how the high/low performer list is generated. It takes nothing short of WORTHLESSNESS to make that list, if you make it you don't have a "hardworking" reputation and you never did so stop fooling yourself.

Can I remind you all that 10-50's and 10-15's are not the only stats looked at when you are ranked. I can bet you a month of paychecks that any officer who complains about the chief's policy is a dirtbag who needs to go or should not be here in the first place. I am sick of hearing whiners complaining about the policy. She's one of the better chief's we have had in my career and I am not on the Lt. or Sgt's list so you can't use the excuse that I'm a kissa$$. If you are to worthless to pull over 3 cars or take a couple of calls for service a day in a 12 hour shift then you need a swift kick in the butt. Look at the list and see the names, if you have been here for 13 years then you KNOW the guys and girls on that list are some of the most worthless pieces of garbage we have that should be ashamed to wear our patch on their sleeve. I can't see how you can disagree...unless your on the list! :shock:

I think I was about 12 when I was taught that there is no "I" in TEAM. Little Leauge baseball if remember correctly. We have removed the team aspect of our organization and replaced it with this generation's motto of: "Me, Me and more Me!"

Everyone is different. They police different. Each squad needs that goat rope call taker so the up-n-comers can take all of the glory arrests. When will OPD ever hold the frontline supervisor accountable. The sole purpose of the Sgt. is to motivate the troops. Hoever, they are not held accountable what so ever. Maybe there should be a list of Sgt.'s who these perpetual low preforming Officer's have worked for. MAybe there will be a pattern there. I agree, if you are at the bottom of the division, you probably need to step it up. However, treat the problem on an individual case by case basis and leave the rest of us alone.

Take a look at the tranfer history of the Captains/DC's. None of them spent more than 5-6 years in patrol in all of their ranks totaled. I'd love to see their stats from their patrol days............

Quoted....

"Everyone is different. They police different. Each squad needs that goat rope call taker so the up-n-comers can take all of the glory arrests. When will OPD ever hold the frontline supervisor accountable. The sole purpose of the Sgt. is to motivate the troops. Hoever, they are not held accountable what so ever. Maybe there should be a list of Sgt.'s who these perpetual low preforming Officer's have worked for. MAybe there will be a pattern there. I agree, if you are at the bottom of the division, you probably need to step it up. However, treat the problem on an individual case by case basis and leave the rest of us alone."

You quoted about the whole teamwork thing as well as your opinion of OPD as "me me me". Heres a word for you, it's called ACCOUNTABILITY. But in the society we have today thats a typical reponse, its always somebody elses fault but never your own right?

Every month your sgt has to pick two highs and two lows, remember those four names go againist the entire bureau, to make the low list we have people pulling over 3-6 cars in 172 hours a month of police work (13 twelves and 2 eight hour shifts a month). They are doing 2-4 reports and nothing else with no arrests, FIR's and pitiful amounts of calls for service. Thats about average across all three divisons for the low people. I'm glad we both agree that if your on the bottom you need to step it up. I also agree with you that the majority of brass don't or didn't spend much time in patrol just like a lot of other people, right or wrong it is what it is.

I don't even really understand why we have the list anyway, they canceled the S-40 van and you and I both know the union would raise hell if they make the low's sit on the corner for the downtown detail. I guess the brass hope the embarrassment of being on the list will be motivation for low guys to step it up, lets see if it works.