$2,000.00 and a Tin Cup.

[Unregistered]

Dear Corky,

It's a day late and a dollar short. It's a little embarrassing, but extremely comical, to see you holding a tin cup in your hand while you beg for "qualified applicants" and dangle $2,000.00 over their head in your sad attempts to lure people to the PCSO. Either you're that ignorant, or completely clueless, as to why this agency is 35+ deputies short.

Do you think it can be solved with a sign-on bonus? I will admit while surrounding Police Departments ( LPD ) start out, and top out, with a much better salary, and the PCSO pales in comparison to TPD and Hillsborough, the starting salary at the PCSO is better than other agencies in the county.

No Corky, it's not solely about the money, its about ................... drum roll...........YOU and your dictator mentality and the tyrants you have in your upper staff. You had a chance, HAD A CHANCE, to improve the lives and moral of the troops when WJ retired ( praise da lawd ). Major Williams, Major Baggett or Major Pruitt would have been solid choices, and more importantly you would've brought hope and positive feelings to these same lowly troops by ensuring them they are appreciated and valued as members, but in stead you place a race baiting idiot, who cant tie his own shoe, in a position where he now can ruin every deputies career. At least when he was over a certain department within the agency he had limited control over those outside that department. Not any more.

Was he placed there because he was the best choice? Absolutely not! He was placed there so you could get your fat face on Tv again and tell the world how you promoted an African American to the highest position within the agency. Yes, I'm well aware that Chief Grant held that rank over detention but that wasn't your goal.

And now you've picked up a tin cup to try to stop the flood of senior and vested deputies from leaving. A day late and a dollar short.

Have you actually paid attention to where a vast majority of these deputies are going? To Police departments. But that's not the point I'm trying to make. These dedicated men and women are leaving their state funded retirement to start all over with Police pensions. While they still have their state retirements, they're willing to start their retirements from scratch, and go back to the bottom of the totem pole, just to get away from you and your crew. Has any of this caught your attention? pffft who are we kidding, of course you couldn't care less because these traitors deserve a traitors death in the eyes of the God King Xerxes. Not that any of them care, but how many of these people ended up on your infamous " Do Not Rehire" list? Even though they provided their two week notice and sacrificed everything for the agency while here, they're placed on this list to satisfy your last little childish " I'll show you" tantrum".

The $2,000.00 carrot will attract people, but it's the same newbies that are looking for employment anyways. It's NOT going to stop the flood of deputies from fleeing. It's all academic anyways, you don't need these people, because they're all dirt under your boot.

Maybe you should go take lessons from the homeless lady who hangs out at Hwy 17 & Snively. She could teach you how to be a real panhandler.

Keep on keeping on slugger, the world revolves around you and your malcontent ways.

[Unregistered]

very nice send this to the ledger

[Unregistered]

Well then, it sounds like you've been around long enough to know how things are really run at PCSO. Add to all of that, the fact that dear Governor Scott has added 5 more years to the time served before you can receive full retirement benefits, and he's reduced the state's input into your retirement, and that $2,000.00 bonus doesn't seem like much of a bonus. Good luck, finding quality applicants who have a college degree and are willing to shovel human trash for 30 years, not to mention the higher personal risks and liability attached to doing the job these days. Once they have enough experience to realize the amount of BS they have to put up with from inside the job, not just outside, they'll walk too. These younger folks don't have the sense of "loyalty" that used to exist. They're a lot more willing to be mobile, especially since they're expected to pay into their own retirement now. What Grady has never figured out, is that people will stay if they're treated with decency. Even if the salary isn't as high as other agencies, people want to be respected. You can't treat people the way they are treated in the law enforcement division, and expect them to stay. Not today. Promote a bunch of clones who do what they're told, without thinking for themselves, and you get a breakdown in the system like what you're seeing now. And just so you know, Captain Williams is no better than what just got promoted. The other options would have been better, but Grady has debts to pay. That promotion was just taking care of one of those debts.

[Unregistered]

And just so you know, Captain Williams is no better than what just got promoted

I think they meant Major L. Williams, not Captain B. Williams.

[Unregistered]

either one of the above mjr Williams or capt Williams god help you all that are still there

[Unregistered]

Yeah, it was the right Williams. Just the wrong rank. If you trust him, you haven't been screwed by him yet. If it's your word against his, he'll lie to cover himself.

[Unregistered]

didn't you know you have to be well trained in lie 101 and backstab 101 to be promoted

[Unregistered]

BARTOW --
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is looking for a few good men and women.

“Right now we have 32 deputy openings,” Judd said.
And with the $2,000 signing bonus he’s offering, those positions won’t be open for long.
“We can offer them a $2,000 bonus,” he said. “A thousand dollars when we hire them and another thousand dollars after they complete probation.”
Sounds like a sweet deal, right?
The sheriff said he’s not poaching people from local law enforcement agencies. This incentive is meant to draw in people from state agencies such as the Florida Highway Patrol or Department of Corrections.

“This $2,000 hiring bonus is only for certified law enforcement officers or detention officers that currently work for the state of Florida,” he said.
Judd came up with the idea after he found out the state of Florida refused to give state law enforcement officers a raise.
“It’s a win-win,” said Judd. “That gives the tax payers of Polk County a break because it’s a lot less expensive to hire already law enforcement officers.”
If that doesn't encourage would-be deputies to apply, maybe this will.
“Out of 17,985 law enforcement agencies nationwide, we’re rated No 1, and you can be apart of the largest rated law enforcement in the nation,” Judd said.
It’s an offer the sheriff is hoping will be too good to refuse.

Posted online by Baynews9.com.


He should have added that if you are a State law enforcement officer with 5 years of experience that you can start at a higher salary than the deputies he already employs with the same amount of experience. Hopefully they will realize that it is not always about the money, we are usually paid less than surrounding agencies. This is the first time I have seen high ranking staff and very senior deputies just walk away, hopefully they will figure out that if you fail to treat people with respect your turn over rate will continue to increase.

As to the subject of the Captains and Majors, most of which were no more than Sgt's when Grady took over, are a product of the leadership style that they developed under his terms as Sheriff. When you don't allow supervisors to make decisions this is the result you get, as far as how some of these people treat the people that work for them is a personality trait that is solely the responsibility of that person. That being said, when people all of a sudden start to leave a unit or a unit continues to have a high turnover rate that should be a clue to upper staff to look at the leadership of that unit (if they actually cared). When you treat you people like they are a dime a dozen you will end up with dime a dozen people.