Council/Chief public lovefest

Following is my opinion on last week's public farce if any are interested. It was originally sent out on the CONA Listbot. The interests of the public will never be as precise or as pointed as the interests of those who serve but we want you all to know we support and care about our police department. We'll keep asking pesky questions and pushing elected officials until we get believable answers. COUNT ON IT!!!

On a related note, Kathleen Ford will file and announce her candidacy for Mayor this Friday (2/13/09) at 11:45 am. The press conference will be held at the steps at City Hall.

In my opinion:
Folks, this was a glorified photo op and campaign cameo. There was absolutely NO substance - just more of the usual smoke and mirrors/dog and pony show anti-crime activists here have seen for ages. The public (also known as the victim pool) deserve far better from our Mayor, our City Council, our Chief of Police and our Police Department. Even though we’ve asked privately, publicly, singly and as a group, we are not afforded the dignity of a response to our concerns.

In fact, it appears as though activist concerns have been willfully misunderstood by the very people we’ve elected to promote our interests and preserve our safety. Not one sane or law-abiding person wants the department to reveal information on investigations in progress or to have the department explain the techniques or specific personnel used to combat crime. That the Chief and the Mayor should state or imply that we’ve asked for this kind of information is misleading and insulting.

Attempts to justify an information blackout because they cannot and should not release specific information on ongoing investigations are simply absurd. We are NOT asking them to reveal state secrets. Since they’ve failed to get this the first hundred times we’ve said it, here are some of our concerns (and the questions Council SHOULD have been asking publicly) for the one hundred and first time:

· What effort has the department made to respond to the concerns shown in the Matrix report and when will the public be told what they are?


· What has the department done to date to boost morale and build a spirit of cooperation/teamwork within the department? What progress has been made and how was that progress measured? What are their future plans?


· When will the department begin releasing the daily Readiness report so that the public can see how many sworn officers are actually on our streets and when?


· How is response time measured?


· How are calls for service coded? What system is in place to prevent down-coding?


· How and why was I-Leads, the new computer system, chosen when most other law enforcement entities in the area use another, more user-friendly program? How many incident reports are dropped by the system? What happens to the reports that are dropped?


· When will the practice of posting arrests from crime sweeps using the Police Department’s address be ended so actual city-wide statistics by crime tract can be shown?


There are more concerns on the list but prompt and complete answers to the above questions will begin to rebuild the public’s trust in and relationship with the department charged with ensuring our safety. Please do us the courtesy of taking our concerns seriously.

Cathy Wilson

Following is my opinion on last week's public farce if any are interested. It was originally sent out on the CONA Listbot. The interests of the public will never be as precise or as pointed as the interests of those who serve but we want you all to know we support and care about our police department. We'll keep asking pesky questions and pushing elected officials until we get believable answers. COUNT ON IT!!!

On a related note, Kathleen Ford will file and announce her candidacy for Mayor this Friday (2/13/09) at 11:45 am. The press conference will be held at the steps at City Hall.

In my opinion:
Folks, this was a glorified photo op and campaign cameo. There was absolutely NO substance - just more of the usual smoke and mirrors/dog and pony show anti-crime activists here have seen for ages. The public (also known as the victim pool) deserve far better from our Mayor, our City Council, our Chief of Police and our Police Department. Even though we’ve asked privately, publicly, singly and as a group, we are not afforded the dignity of a response to our concerns.

In fact, it appears as though activist concerns have been willfully misunderstood by the very people we’ve elected to promote our interests and preserve our safety. Not one sane or law-abiding person wants the department to reveal information on investigations in progress or to have the department explain the techniques or specific personnel used to combat crime. That the Chief and the Mayor should state or imply that we’ve asked for this kind of information is misleading and insulting.

Attempts to justify an information blackout because they cannot and should not release specific information on ongoing investigations are simply absurd. We are NOT asking them to reveal state secrets. Since they’ve failed to get this the first hundred times we’ve said it, here are some of our concerns (and the questions Council SHOULD have been asking publicly) for the one hundred and first time:

· What effort has the department made to respond to the concerns shown in the Matrix report and when will the public be told what they are?


· What has the department done to date to boost morale and build a spirit of cooperation/teamwork within the department? What progress has been made and how was that progress measured? What are their future plans?


· When will the department begin releasing the daily Readiness report so that the public can see how many sworn officers are actually on our streets and when?


· How is response time measured?


· How are calls for service coded? What system is in place to prevent down-coding?


· How and why was I-Leads, the new computer system, chosen when most other law enforcement entities in the area use another, more user-friendly program? How many incident reports are dropped by the system? What happens to the reports that are dropped?


· When will the practice of posting arrests from crime sweeps using the Police Department’s address be ended so actual city-wide statistics by crime tract can be shown?


There are more concerns on the list but prompt and complete answers to the above questions will begin to rebuild the public’s trust in and relationship with the department charged with ensuring our safety. Please do us the courtesy of taking our concerns seriously.

Cathy Wilson

Thank you, Ms. Wilson, for caring enough to post such a detailed speech. All of us who are professional greatly appreciate and respect your professionalism and progressive efforts to make a great agency even better. I would like to apologize in advance if anyone uses the shield of anonymity to launch any sort of unprofessional attack on you. I don't expect this but the reality of anonymous posting is the price we pay for freedom of speech. Just be understanding if someone who is uneducated is incapable of understanding your meaning or debating with logic. That happens sometimes here and I am the normal victim of such hateful assaults. I wold rather they attack me than you though.

FYI Mrs. Nelson, the poster "highly professional" is a troll and not a member of SPPD...just gets on this site to stir the pot. Please disregard anmy opinion posted by him posing as an officer.

FYI Mrs. Nelson, the poster "highly professional" is a troll and not a member of SPPD...just gets on this site to stir the pot. Please disregard anmy opinion posted by him posing as an officer.

Here we go. I warned these people are vicious. This uneducated heathen even referred to you as "Mrs." without asking you if that is the title you prefer rather than the politically correct "Ms.". How unprofessional.

FYI Mrs. Nelson, the poster "highly professional" is a troll and not a member of SPPD...just gets on this site to stir the pot. Please disregard anmy opinion posted by him posing as an officer.

Oh MY Lord! Her name is "Wilson" and not "Nelson". Oh boy, these people keep embarrassing all of the educated people.

Cathy, We real members of SPPD appreciate your input and agree with your assessment of the recent "lovefest" at City Hall. The Council does not really want to hear the answers to the tough questions, so they accept what Captain Kangaroo tells them.

As far as highly (un)professional goes, he is not a member of SPPD, nor is he known to be a member of any other law enforcement agency. So those of us in the department take his "educated" input for what it is: garbage.

Thank you again for your support.

Hi John,
I'm not used to posting on message boards that everyone and anyone can post to and don't normally post here though I DO read from time to time. Just so you know, the CONA listbot is closed to all but members and we MUST identify ourselves to participate. It kind of cuts down on the 'pot-stirring" a bit. I saw Picasso's post on another thread here and was glad to know the SPPD LEOs have a private place to post elsewhere on this board.

I sent this post on your board particularly because I'm getting feedback from friends telling me some of the SPPD rank and file don't think the public knows or cares about the problems there. I wanted them to see that it wasn't so, that we're trying to work on it and to let them know that they are appreciated and supported out here.

Stay safe AND sane ya'll...
Cathy Wilson

P.S. to Picasso - My heart goes out to you and your family on the loss of your stepdaughter. We knew her from Paisano's and miss her very much. I also want to let you know how much I've appreciated your visual artistry over the years. You are truly one of a kind and I'm glad you're still kicking!!!

It is caring people such as yourself that gets the word out re: how officers feel about the public and how the public feels about us. We, as SPPD officers, do not think that the public has forsaken us. But we do feel that the public is buying in to the rhetoric that the chief and his minions are spewing.

A change needs to be made at the mayor and council level, which would then (hopefully) trickle down to the administrative level of this department. Chuck and his asst chiefs need to go, and a new chief should be hired from outside. Or maybe look at some retired or former officers that are no longer with the department. That would be a step in the right direction.

[Picasso]

To Cathy Wilson and CONA

The street officers at SPPD have always felt your backing through the years.
Your goal of making our City better, has been our objective.
But there have been many, many times our hands have been tied.
The rank and file are thankful to the citizens that can see through all the smoke and mirrors that City Hall and SPPD administration has put up.
Your list of Questions, needs to be answered, by the higher ups,
With Clear and Precise responses. Not hems and haws.
We are being told it's time for CHANGE with our new president in office. It's time for a CHANGE at home ~ in our own City.
It's time that the Facts and Truth be put out to everyone who calls St Petersburg ~ Home.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming elections.
If we all work together we might be able to endure these hard times and make St Pete, the Great City it once was ~
and not just have another "GREAT DAY" in the sunshine !

To Cathy Wilson and CONA

The street officers at SPPD have always felt your backing through the years.
Your goal of making our City better, has been our objective.
But there have been many, many times our hands have been tied.
The rank and file are thankful to the citizens that can see through all the smoke and mirrors that City Hall and SPPD administration has put up.
Your list of Questions, needs to be answered, by the higher ups,
With Clear and Precise responses. Not hems and haws.
We are being told it's time for CHANGE with our new president in office. It's time for a CHANGE at home ~ in our own City.
It's time that the Facts and Truth be put out to everyone who calls St Petersburg ~ Home.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming elections.
If we all work together we might be able to endure these hard times and make St Pete, the Great City it once was ~
and not just have another "GREAT DAY" in the sunshine !

Great post Piccasso!

I think I we can all read between the lines.

I am glad to see you also agree that CHANGE is needed.

It is time for the racist attitude toward the black community to stop!

Thanks you for having the courage to speak up on this issue without hurling insults.