Saturday, November 14, 2009

Smoke and Mirrors

C.E.O Ellis states in a letter to all county employees "...there will be one unpaid holiday. Despite what you have heard, there have been no furloughs or unpaid workdays".

He just failed to mention "but you just wait to next week!"

Click here to read his letter.

Yet Lt. Padrick from Chief of Police O'Brien's office sent an email that reads in part, "all county employees will work their normally scheduled working days at a reduced rate of pay".
Click here to read Lt. Padrick's email.

Send in the clowns, because this is starting to look a lot like a circus.

36 comments:

Slamin Ethel said...

Riddle me this! If I work at a reduced rate, does that mean my output should be reduced as well?
I think so batman.

Anonymous said...

So much for Ellis treating us better than Vernon.
Also have any of you wondered why they are creating a committee to study the idea of creating Corporals? If they can’t afford to pay the salaries they have now why are the even considering creating a new pay grade? (Answer they can save money by doing it.) The plan is to make the Corporal positions, then eliminate existing Sergeants positions. Corporals will be “working” supervisors. They will still have the responsibilities that line officers have, i.e. answering calls, 41s etc. But they will also take some of the Sergeants responsibilities, i.e. checking J2, supervising scenes. So the department doesn’t lose any call answering manpower, but at the same time can justify reducing the number of Sergeants since the Corporals will be capable of doing some of their work. It is a pretty smart way of screwing us over. A lot of guys will be happy to get a chance for a small raise, not realizing that they are giving up their chance to make Sergeant, since there will be fewer positions.

Anonymous said...

The committee is renaming the MPO position with the addition of the duties and responsibilities as outlined above. The guys that will get the small raise with the corporal position would have gotten it anyway as a MPO.
Enjoy your two stripes my fellow
PO2's, because the third one will be a long time coming.

Anonymous said...

I have to say that I really do not understand the unpaid holiday thing at all. The bottom line is that we are losing money and I do get that part of the equation. We still have a lot of waste in the police department and the county govt. as a whole. I hear that we need to spend about $500,000.00 on the helicopters to overhaul the engines. Could this be because Rancifer flew the hell out of them the last few years and treated them like they were his personal sky taxis? He also bought more useless crap and wasted taxpayer’s money at a rate that deserves a prison sentence. But no one is held accountable.

How about the $60,000.00 we spent on that big white sky lift contraption. Now that thing has really come in handy in dealing with the burglaries, the robberies and the drug dealing in DeKalb County. We should buy a couple more.

While we are getting rid of some useless crap, how bout doing away with the TRT. What possible purpose does that unit serve? I know they wish they were SWAT but they are not so get rid of it. What about the big Bomb Unit and the million dollars worth of crap that they have to work on the bombs that do not exist in DeKalb County? We actually have officers who do this FULL TIME. Amazing! The Gang Unit has never done a damn thing but talk about what they are going to do some day. What about this new Anti Violence Gun Unit with all the detectives? I heard a lot of talk when it started several months ago but besides the talk I think it has been pretty much nothing. And speaking of doing nothing, can you believe that we still have ICP units in the precincts?

When we start cutting the fat out of the county govt. maybe we should start with our own department.

Anonymous said...

You forgot the Magic Buses and the 25 officers assigned to ICP at Center Precinct....yes 25!

Anonymous said...

Hey Rancifer.Are you still gettn in your helicopter and checking up on your daughter making sure she is at the bus stop.WHAT A WASTE.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I want to be a corporal.

MPO means ABSOLUTELY nothing. Now I can be laterally moved "up" to the rank of Coroporal!

Oh goody goody good!

I'll get to wear a stripe that means ABSOLUTELY nothing. I can do the job of a Sgt and NOT get paid for it. Just what I want, all the BS without the reward of stripes that the citizens and officers respect or the pay that comes with it.

Has the amount of paperwork increase to the point that two Sgt's and an LT can't effectively run a team?

Don't even get me started on ICP and the waste of manpower and resources.

Riddle me this - Why does an ICP officer need an assigned new patrol car to go to a community meeting? Can't he or she not get a police car from a pool of vehicles assigned to the uniform officers of their precinct? Why haven't those cars been moved into the pool of vehicles? Why are we still waiting for cars?

Anonymous said...

Yes I agree TRT is a joke. When they train they place a serious manpower burden on the precincts. Also, can someone please tell me what Glen Jefferson's duties are. This guy hasnt done a thing in about 10 years.

Anonymous said...

Talk about waste lets not forget the Director of Public Safety bs position they had to create for Miller-Time. Since he couldnt be Chief of Police. Could somebody get us the dollar amount that position is wasting, all his staff, drivers, cars, etc. Why is all his expense coming out of the police budget can anyone answer that.

Anonymous said...

Take those CID cars and park a few of them, saves a lot of gas money.
Wonder what the fuel cost is these days.

Quit fueling up those buses to do a dog and pony show in a neighborhood.

Ask some to explain how the buses deter crime.

Anonymous said...

Director Miller COULD NOT BE CHIEF? Are you serious? Do you actually know anything about this guy’s qualifications? He is far more qualified than O’Brien to be a police chief. O’Brien is a good guy and I am not saying anything bad about him. Some of you guys think that you have to run down WZ Miller to like O’Brien or you have to run down O’Brien to like Miller. Ridiculous! It is disturbing that so many officers are judging this situation based on race alone. I have news for SOME of you. WZ Miller is not dumb just because he is black. He certainly is not perfect but neither is O’Brien (shock to some of you), neither or you and neither am I.

Now this whole discussion of waste (and laziness) in the police department is a very relevant and worthwhile discussion. This is the type of thing that this blog does best. Allow for discussion and disagreement about an important topic.

What units or positions do we need to abolish all together?
Who is not pulling their weight?
Is there equipment that has been purchased that is a waste of taxpayer’s money?
What unit needs to be reorganized?
Who talks about policing more than they actually police?
Are there units that need more manpower?

Honor Step by Bringin His Boys Back! said...

Anonymous asked the following questions, and I've answered below....

What units or positions do we need to abolish all together?
ICP..... waste of manpower and cars. Strike Force...like Vice and Narcotics, I used to see and work with them all the time....what happened to them? The last Strike Force officer I saw or had back me on a traffic stop was Step..... nuff said...I really miss seeing Step's smiling face RIP, it was an honor to serve with you! ...Bring these guys back...They ROCKED!

Who is not pulling their weight?
ICP - they pad their numbers by jumping calls where there are a quick felony J1's- ie...fraud in progress at the bank. All we need are one or two officers per precinct to attend community meetings...assign them and their assigned cars to the uniform division and the general motor pool.

Is there equipment that has been purchased that is a waste of taxpayer’s money?
See Magic bus, see "portable sky box", see School Style Bus for Radio, see Assigned cars/Reserved cars for ICP, see massive fleet of black PIMP cars assigned to command staff....see assigned car for 1310.

What unit needs to be reorganized?
Honestly, nothing comes to mind....although, I'd ask the Sgt's to respond to calls as the secondary unit to keep one of their territory units available. Why do the Sgt's always stay 10-8 when they can back their officers and keep their line officers available?

Are there units that need more manpower?
Uniform Patrol.... also add patrol cars to that "need more"..., CID because they just don't have enough detectives, and Internal Affairs to handle the riff raff that was hired during the Bolton years.

In a nutshell..my humble opinion.

Anonymous said...

From my talk with employees around the county it looks like something will have to happen soon with regards to the revenue shortfall this year. Director Bell has publicly stated that we need to axe 5-700 employees and I have heard of higher numbers than that. Something has to happen soon and it will be drastic.
Most of the giz-mo's bought by the cops, like the magic busses, the white thingy on the prime tower and the bomb squad stuff has been bought through federal homeland-security grants with the feds providing most of the cash.
This has provided LE nation-wide with a host of new toys of limited utility. If the money had been spent instead on crime-enforcement programs that actually worked that would be acceptable. The feds are handing out your tax-revenue faster than we can pay into it and I fail to see any value to the average citizen.

Anonymous said...

"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." Chesty Puller, U. S Marine Corps. ret, deceased

Anonymous said...

I'll tell you why SGTS won't answer calls or back other officers....because some of them have not been on the road on average for 10-15 years and do not remember how to be on the road, and yet for others it is simply a LAZINESS issue because that would require them to actually lead and most of them could not lead out of a dark room with a flashlight.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of salaries why do the Police Chiefs keep working extra jobs at the C.D.C. when they are making close to 100k a year?

Anonymous said...

Public Safety Director $250k came out of PD budget.

Anonymous said...

I live in Dekalb and I love this County. The Officers I have met I think do a good job. But some of you cowards that post these blogs demeaning citizens and other Officer are embarassment to the profession. Be a man a and go to the person you are trying to demean. You want do this because you are a COWARD.

Anonymous said...

The Chiefs work CDC and other part time jobs because they can! Its all about me, me, me. Once you attain a certain rank you should be prohibited from working part time jobs. One, it presents a negative image of the department when citizens see a Deputy Chief working at Sam's Warehouse, or Asst Chief's working CDC. Two, do you really think these Chief's write incident reports on their part times? Do you think the PO2 will respond to Sam's on a 57 and tell the Deputy Chief to 'go ahead and knock out that j2 hommie?' Yeah right. Also, it opens the door for inproprieties. IE, if I turn in a part time request through the chain that pays $50 an hour, how easy is it for a Chief to call the employer and strongarm the gig!!!

Anonymous said...

New Policy: Major and above no part-times, I may even entertain captain rank. It is part of the decision to move up in rank.

Any discussion about creating a new rank without $$ attached is not going to happen, the discussions are mearly a think tank about the issues of rank.

There is plenty of fat to trim, but the CJS must get back to basics, less specialzed units that don't produce good arrests, whatever units they may be. Cut the overlap of job responsibilities and bring back units like Strike Force and Red Dog. Any positions that are merely for citizen PR needs to trimmed, we do so much to appease the public with crime stats, color glossy models of crim stats where they live, put bodies on the street.

Leadership is not a day by day operation, it is long term vision, sgt's, lt's, capt's assist in making sure the vision is carried out.

Be safe, take names.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the post about limiting extra jobs for anyone who is a deputy chief or above. Aside from the other issues that were mentioned, the position of deputy chief or above SHOULD be a full time position with no time to work extra jobs.

I also agree that there is lots of waste in our own department. Sure, we go rid of some of it with Bolton’s departure but there are still far too many do nothing units and officers we wouldn’t miss one bit if they were cut.

On a completely separate topic, if you really want to understand this whole unpaid holiday thing you should speak with Chief Frank Kliesrath. He will explain it like nobody else can.

Anonymous said...

FYI, Strike Force is back under CID where they belong. They're back to doing what their original purpose was.

Anonymous said...

FYI, for those of ya'll complaining..Fulton County announced today it will be laying off 1000 people. I am no happier than anyone else about the 2 week reduced pay..but dammit I will have a job after that 2 weeks..I will not complain, we are sooo much better off than other places. I am betting that DeKalb will start layoffs Jan. 1, but it won't reach us in the PD. Please be grateful guys, geez!!!In case you hadn't noticed--there are MILLIONS of people in the US right now who are jobless!!!You think they would care about 1 unpaid day of work? Get real!! They can't even afford to keep their lights on at home, IF they still have a home, much less get Christmas stuff for their kids!!

Anonymous said...

By the way, I heard about Chief Kliesrath's confusing rant at the Compstat bout the unpaid holiday. Hilarious! If you weren't there, you missed a good show!!

Slim Pickens said...

Well Chief Kliesrath did explain it to me, and to be honest I was more confused when he said "Hell I still cant make heads or tails of it".
Im just gunna go with the fact that I will bring home less this week than last payday.
Even the higher archy cant convince me that they know either.
I give up.

Anonymous said...

Chiefs working part time jobs. Haaaaaa! Only in the south. You think Assistant and Deputy Chiefs for NYPD or LAPD work part time jobs? NOT!! Welcome to Dekalb!

Anonymous said...

Dang guys and girls dont be picking on the Chief. He is keeping his part times to make sure they are there when he is no longer Chief. Have any of you heard the CEO say or issue any paper saying he had the permanent Chief job. I dont think so. Chief keep right on working those jobs and look out for yourself and family.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree that seeing a high ranking officer of a major police department working a part time job is embarassing. You make over $115,000 per year, have a brand new take home vehicle (or two), and you still have to supplement your income? WOW! Either you are financially irresponsible, or greedy! I guess next Assisant Chiefs will have apartment security.

Anonymous said...

Car 2 to radio, show me 1041 a part time job at Jays Place from this time til 0400 hours. Ha ha ha ha

Anonymous said...

Thank Vernon Jones for appointing incompetent, crooked "yes men" in Recorder's Court and the Tax Office for DeKalb's financial troubles.

Anonymous said...

Dang guys, what's wrong with a little capitalism? Whats wrong with making as much money as you can when you can?

Anonymous said...

They are just greedy. Let the officers work the part times. A chief's image is shattered when seen working a part time, and a little confidence in them is lost. What would you think if you walked into a night club and saw your doctor supplementing his income as a bouncer?

Anonymous said...

I totally agree, cant tell ya how many times I have been asked by the Chiefs to do their J2.

Anonymous said...

I am all for capitalism but at some point the rank gets high enough that politics can come into play with assigning police priorities, and eliminating 2nd jobs of command staff could save the department a lot of unnecessary trouble down the road.
I read that the pension board will be voting on early retirement incentive options tomorrow, it's been nice knowing you guys!

Anonymous said...

We should take care of you for taking care of us. It can be done. Thought this creative approach was rather interesting, to say the least:
November 19, 2009 | 5:04 pm
A fund created by Los Angeles County Superior Court judges who are donating a day’s pay each month will be used to offset pay cuts to the court staff, officials announced Thursday.

Monthly staff furloughs and court closures were ordered in July after the state Legislature cut court funding by more than $200 million.

Most of L.A. County’s judges, who were exempt from the furloughs because their salaries are legally protected from cuts, opted to forgo a day’s pay to help mitigate the effects of the budget cuts.

The donations, which amount on average to 4.5% of a judge's salary, will restore up to one day’s pay per quarter for the court’s 5,000 employees, beginning in January.

“We believe this is unprecedented and shows strong support to staff working under difficult conditions,” said Arnella Sims, a court reporter and union official who said the decision came as a surprise.

Pay attention BOC.

Beef Stick said...

Thusfar Ex Chief Burroughs was the only man of rank that I have ever seen do his own J2.
He never that I witnessed pawned off his work on anyone, I sat and watched him come over to North Precinct many of times and use the computers.
Some should take notice of this, a man that never forgot where he came from.