Quote Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
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.

We certainly agree that Operation Overwatch, conducted in August of 2015, was an undeniable success. Any time law enforcement can work on a joint operation to arrest criminals is a success in my book, but we have to look at the true impact. Since one of the goals of law enforcement is to reduce crime on a sustained level. Short term operations, such as this one, have a positive impact on crime reduction, but according to the US Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Service, this reduction “tends to disappear (or decay) rather quickly, and occasionally even before the crackdown ends” (Scott, 2004). These types of operations cannot stand alone and expect to make a real impact on crime. The current administration is doing what they know how to do to control crime but it is failing. All we need to do is listen to Sheriff Ashley who stated, “Violent crime is up 111%.” to see that Okaloosa County is in desperate need of a new plan to address crime. The current administration has no plan beyond throwing buckets of money at the problem, I believe there will need to be budget monies appropriated with a sensible plan of use, which the citizens can understand. We need to begin changing how we police our community, the world has changed and we too must change with better cutting edge training and restructuring our organization to meet today and tomorrow's needs, The old line "That's how we always have done it" is so far out of touch it has begun to cost us lives; we must correct our course before we lose anymore.

We also agree that “The majority of local LEO's from the different agencies get along just fine”. I may have been unclear in my previous post on this page titled “Interagency Cooperation” that stated, “Fortunately, for the line officers the difference in uniform color or badge shape means very little when it comes to in the field cooperation, as officers depend on each other for safety and backup.” Please understand that I am not slighting anyone, but I believe the relationships between County and City personnel can be far better, benefiting from an improved and solid relationship between the County and Municipal Administrations and I don't believe anyone is against that goal.

Unfortunately, we finally come to an issue we do disagree on and that is agency morale. If your morale is good, I am happy for you, and hope you will stay with the agency, as officers with good morale create a better work product and far better service to the community. Unfortunately I believe you are out of touch with your subordinates or peers. I have worked for five different Sheriff’s, and I have seen high morale during my tenure. Please know that the morale issue is not just a campaign topic for me. I feel certain we know each other and if that is the case you certainly know that many of your co-workers continue to confide in me, I also assure you that the morale issues within the Sheriff's Office I speak of is far beyond the spouting of sub-par disgruntled employees. I have spoken to many fine deputies, who have related their dissatisfaction with the current relationship between the administration and the line employees. They have expressed their feelings, the most predominate of which is a sense of being disposable workers, instead of invested partners within the "corporate style" organization the sheriff has developed. I could provide more to my knowledge on this topic but I fear it would compromise the identity of current employees and that I will not allow to occur so this will have to suffice.

Good morale results from:

1. A command staff that is not isolated from its line officers and provides clear communication. The current administration has isolated itself from the line officers under the guise of "Chain of Command", as well as, building a "literal" wall in the Administrative Office that isolates Command from the very personnel who are critical to the mission. I have observed and subscribe to a far better way to conduct business and it involves a Sheriff who literally chases you down in the hall just to speak with you about how you are doing before you go out the door, or a Sheriff who is in the stack to make entry on a homicide suspect, when his help was required both of which occurred in Northwest Florida. For a Sheriff, the deputies are your most important asset because they represent you to the community. A Sheriff must take care of his or her deputies and this requires interaction and open communication, not walls.

2. Allowing deputies to be entrusted with a task and not being micromanaged to complete it. I believe we have hired people to do a job and once they are trained we should entrust them to carry it out while providing whatever support they need. I will have supervisors who believe, “A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so that they can get on with their jobs.” Robert Townsend.

3. Investing in personnel, not just as deputy’s but as people who have families and personal lives. We must train all officers, because it produces better quality work in the field and better results for the community we serve. By training I do not mean reading the same "power point presentation" every year and checking off a box. Training must be relevant, stimulating, and inspiring. We must also remember that deputies were fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands, and/or wives before they came to the Sheriff’s Office and maintaining that part of your life is just as important. When you are at work I want you 100% dedicated to the job, but when you are off we need to be reminded that there is more to life than the job and taking care of yourself when you are off makes you even better when you are on.
I truly do not believe you would disagree with any of my goals and even if there were not a morale issue, these goals could do nothing but improve morale further, they only require a leader with the character and integrity to integrate them into the organization. This issue goes well beyond politics and money it is essential for the professional survival and well-being of the agency. This is not a conflict between you and I, even without knowing who you are, if I assume you are a current member of the agency I feel certain you love where you work and I share that love for the OCSO. I have invested half of my 49 years to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office and my wife has as well, I only want the best for the agency, our community, and those who visit this place we call "Home".

I appreciate your participation and respect your thoughts,

Brian Cokonougher