The political maneuvering by Vernon Jones and the rest of the DeKalb County commissioners is enough to make you physically ill. And it is sinful how they are using the police department as their football.
It is well known the BOC cannot agree on how much money should be spent on public safety; including the type of pay raise, if any. When they did agree, Vernon vetoed it!
Vernon has now devised a scheme to screw the fine officers of DeKalb County, the citizens of DeKalb and the citizens of Dunwoody. He now wants a bond referendum to fund the police department’s needs.
By putting the bond referendum out there, he is relaying on the uneducated believing this is “free money”. He doesn’t have to cut budgets and wasteful spending in other departments. A select number of contractors with the county can still line their pockets $49,000.00 at a time. Homeowners will be happy because their property taxes will not be raised. And he sticks it to the residents of Dunwoody. When they become a city, they are stuck with a share of the tab. If they fight the referendum, then they will be labeled as anti-police, anti-public safety.
Sadly, a very large number of police officers including Chief Bolton will hold hands with Vernon. Please don’t be fooled by this demagogue. If the referendum passes, there will not be a pay raise; the computer system will still be broken; there still will not be enough cars; you will not be furnished with rifles.
But you will be fooled.
Monday, March 31, 2008
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Damn boys we are in a tight spot! Officers are leaving the department at an unprecedented rate. The grand jury report is released and contains some good recommendations but also many negative remarks about the department. It does not appear that the pay raise will be approved this year, but who knows with the confusing political games being played. If CNN and the Fox News Network combined their recourses, they would not be able to make sense of, or explain that debacle. The department must answer to a police chief who is routinely out of town and unavailable, which perhaps is just as well, because he is astonishingly incompetent! The majority of the upper command staff, which incredibly is only partially in place, has no idea how to run a large police department and is dysfunctional at best. And lastly the most disturbing fact of all is the crime rate in DeKalb County. Sadly, we are experiencing property crime rates and violent crime rates that have never been seen in the history of DeKalb County!
It is quite clear that if you consider the above circumstances and many other factors, you must conclude that Dekalb County police officers are indeed in a tight spot. The truth is there are many outstanding police officers in this department, including many good sergeants, lieutenants, captains and even a couple of majors. I know the next few months will be tough but I urge all of my fellow officers to hang in there and continue to work hard and be as professional as possible.Do everything you can do to keep each other safe.
If we get the 4% raise, which you all deserve, then I am sure that would be great news. But speaking just for myself now, I will eat rice and water before I will beg the BOC / Vernon Jones for a 4% raise. And I DO NOT need the money bad enough to hold hands with Terrell Bolton in order to get it. Much of the county government is void of ethics because Vernon Jones is void of ethics. The command staff of the police department is void of ethics because Terrell Bolton, who was appointed by Vernon Jones, is void of ethics. It is a horrible situation but it is really not that complicated.
If things do not change, the crime rate will continue to spiral out of control. There are hundreds of good police officers in this department but there is very little leadership. I have painted a bleak (but accurate) picture of our circumstances but now for the good news. We have had to tolerate Vernon Jones for 87 months but we have only 9 more months to go! We will soon have a new CEO, who will hopefully appoint a decent and professional police chief. We can return this department to the proud and professional organization it once was. We can then address this ridiculous crime rate and serve the citizens of this county as they deserve!
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