A couple of recent observations.

You boys are a bunch of whining little cry babies.

Don't hurt yourself while shopping in your take home car on the Sheriff's gas, getting your free to low apartment rent, and your free mobile homes at all the county parks, county locks, and other areas where all you pay for is your electric. There is more disparity here than your salary! Oh and let us not forget how you are not mico-managed like the people in the jail. In case you haven't noticed, our patches and badges say the same thing. Oh, and let us not forget how you shake and shudder in fear as you come into booking because you have to leave your gun, asp, magazines, and knives in your pretty cruiser! And while you are driving down the road talking to your spouse on your cell phone, keep in mind that your counter part in the jail face disciplinary action if he is caught with his cell phone!!! So you don't like detention deputies attitudes and whining...think about these things and give em a little more lee way, I don't think that is asking too much!

I started my law enforcement career in the jail. It wasn't long before I decided that I was unwilling to devote my life to a career there. Fortunately I moved on to the road. If I had not been able to do this I would have quit the job and moved on.

Like many others who read the board, I am really tired of the whining of the jail deputies. The jail deputy job IS NOT equivalent to that of a road deputy in the eyes of management, the County Commission or the general public. The road deputies will always have a higher status, get more fringe benefits and have more perks than jail deputies. This is a FACT OF LIFE. It is time for jail deputies to accept this fact, get over it and either live with it or GET ANOTHER JOB.

I can say this because I faced this situation and made a commitment to move on if the only alternative was a career in the jail. And my decision had nothing to do with comparing my status with that of road deputies or feeling in any way inferior to road deputies or discriminated against because I worked in the jail. I simply found working in the jail too "confining." (No pun intended.)

There ARE those who are quite content to serve the public in the very honorable position of jail deputy. More power to them - it just wasn't for me. The general public may never realize how much you contribute to society but believe me, I do.

But, if the jail is the career you have selected you should face up to the FACT that it is not now, nor will it ever be, held in equivalent esteem as a career on the road. There is no amount of whining or complaining that will change that.

If you forever compare your situation to others who have things that you don't then you consign yourself to a life of discontent. It is genuine friendly advice that I offer when I say "quit whining and complaining" and get on with your life in a respected and well paid job.

Signed: Been there, done that, have the memories.

First let me say thanks for recognizing and putting out there that working in the jail is an honorable thing that goes unnoticed by the public. My earlier comments were not meant to infer that jail deputies should be held the same "status" by the command staff or the public. Long story short, though, is that all deputies should all be treated fairly. What is good for one should be good for the other. And if a road deputy is afforded the opportunity to do something like the Sykes luncheon, then a detention deputy should be allowed to do so, should staffing permit. I really don't think that that is too much to ask.

I agree.

The stupidest people in our entire organization are those road deputies who think they are "better than" the jail deputies.

It is not only stupid, but also a significant sign of immaturity for members of one group of employees to hold themselves to be better than another group. (Hummm, do jail deputies believe they are better than civilian employees?)

The road deputy job is admittedly more glamorous than the jail deputy job. I would compare it to the old west when the cowboy was more glamorous than the farmer. The cowboy was a rip-roaring "Knight of the Open Range" and the farmer was merely a "Sodbuster." But in the final analysis, it was the farmer (who brought families, towns, roads, and finally even the cattle ranches) to the West, and who was the real civilizing influence in the country. (Even cattle ranchers grew crops. Did you think they ate nothing but beef?)

The fact is OUR community needs both road deputies and jail deputies. Both are essential to our safety.

Whatever you do, do it with pride and do your best.

Don't hurt yourself while shopping in your take home car on the Sheriff's gas, getting your free to low apartment rent, and your free mobile homes at all the county parks, county locks, and other areas where all you pay for is your electric. There is more disparity here than your salary! Oh and let us not forget how you are not mico-managed like the people in the jail. In case you haven't noticed, our patches and badges say the same thing. Oh, and let us not forget how you shake and shudder in fear as you come into booking because you have to leave your gun, asp, magazines, and knives in your pretty cruiser! And while you are driving down the road talking to your spouse on your cell phone, keep in mind that your counter part in the jail face disciplinary action if he is caught with his cell phone!!! So you don't like detention deputies attitudes and whining...think about these things and give em a little more lee way, I don't think that is asking too much!

Just need to correct you here. Deputies that live on county parks do not get free mobile homes. In fact the deputy buys their own mobile home and pays a mortgage on it. If you haven't looked lately they are 85k and up. We DO NOT pay for electricity. So you are backwards. I don't know what a county lock is. Deputies on some areas for the state also have to pay income tax on it at the end of the year.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great deal for us. We do however provide a necessary service by providing security at the park. Without law enforcement there, patrol would have more to deal with and the parks would get vandalized. The county spent more than 4 million dollars on my park and I'm sure you would agree paying for my electric is a drop in the bucket compared to how much is spent lighting the playing fields every night. It's a win/win situation.

One other point, I have never observed anyone shake and shutter inside booking with a bunch of unarmed inmates. I'm a whole lot more worried when I deal with the SAME people on the outside while they are armed. So that it a bunch of horse puckey there.

I have had the opportunity to attend several memorial and appreciation lunches over the past several of weeks. I personally love the law enforcement profession and still look forward to going to work each and every day. I've worked corrections as well as the street for over a 22 year time frame. Not all with HCSO. I'm a slick sleeve who just calls it as I see it.

I did not mean to start another road vs. jail debate. Like I said, I've worked both and each have there place in society. One can not function without the other. Enforcement and Detention / Prison operations need eachother to keep our society safe.

The Sykes Luncheon is a place where a private enterprise has chosen to show appreciation to us for the job that we do. I applaud them for that. Again, to Mr. Sykes, Thank You.

To the HCSO memorial. Forget about the Sykes luncheon for a moment and think about OUR annual service to honor OUR fallen brothers and sisters. Again I ask why can we not fill up the downtown square with OUR ranks. I know alot of us have to work either in the pods or on the street the night of the service but there is still alot of us that could attend that choose not to. Why is this? PLEASE don't tell me that we feel no responsibility to attend. The thought of an agency that does not care about the brothers and sisters that has fallen in the past in order to protect eachother and the citizens of this county is scarey to say the least.

Once more. Something to think about.
"The Nitely Blog"
Stay Safe!!!

This has been blown so out of proportion it isn't even funny. Stop whinning about takehome cars and cell phones. It's unfortunate to correction deputies, but remeber correction deputies choose their profession as did road deputies. Therefore if you dont like your perks, change profession i.e the police academy. GOOD LUCK