Saturday, December 4, 2010

Operation: "Break Wind" Underway

Nothing new is coming off the 4th floor. The command staff is continuing with same old tired, and what they believe is "aggressive law enforcement". "Operation Rolling Thunder" they call it. Enough to make you want to puke.

To enlighten the ones who don't know, Operation Rolling Thunder is nothing more than a revenue generating operation. The TAC Unit, along with officers (1 officer mainly) from each precinct, conduct traffic stops and road blocks with the primary goal of issuing traffic citations. As if this wasn't enough of a tax of the general public, some precinct commanders are conducting their own specials and road blocks in addition to Operation Rolling Thunder.

If the command staff is serious about reducing crime, they would stop with these repeated amateur antics.

The commanders don't understand the basics of police work. First up, you need manpower. Manpower to literally shut down the intersections, dope corners, high traffic areas of any and all mayhem. That means multiple police cars, prisoner vans, teams working around the clock, etc. And you still have to answer all the regular crap that occurs during the course of a normal tour. We can't bring that sort of sustained pressure. We don't have the manpower or the police cars.

Next you need teams of detectives pulled from all over the county to interview every single person who is the object of your "squeeze." You need wily detectives to dig into backgrounds, gain confidences, cajole, threaten, whatever, just to catch someone in a lie or someone dirty who will then make a deal for some tidbit of info that gives you a starting point. We are a little short on veteran hard core detectives.

Third, you have to have the support of the law abiding. We're not so cynical as to write off entire neighborhoods, but the "snitches get stitches" crowd is more of a presence in the 'hood than the police, which is directly attributable to the manpower shortage. Rare is the person who's going to cooperate if they know they're going to catch a beating. Or worse. They might cooperate if they're caught dirty, but otherwise?

Last, you have to have leaders. Let's be blunt here - we have none. Wiz Miller, the Director of Public Safety, read his title again, Director of Public Safety, is nowhere to be seen. A legion of assistant chiefs, deputy chiefs, including a hold over from the Terrell Bolton era, who don't have the reputation of "kicking ass and taking names" or any innovated thoughts.

You'll have to pardon our hesitation to embrace a revenue generating operation when the department and the county has done nothing but treat us as vermin. Least we forget the loss holidays, the loss of sick time pay, the loss of pay in the form of furlough days, 100% increase of pension contributions, increase in health insurance premiums, the loss to able to choose from more than 2 insurance companies, the loss of overtime pay.

Remember the words of Jeff Rader, commissioner of district 2: “If they want to get paid more, they have to carry more of the burden,”. “There is no way around it.” Our command staff are buying into this crap.

We would actually like to see a definition of "Operation Rolling Thunder" in writing and made public, so the citizens know exactly what is coming at them.

Click here to see how history repeats it's self.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Broken Window ., GAP, Rolling Thunder, what's with these cute names they come up with for these new plans to attack crime. I guess this is our new leadership looking into the past.

Its all about bring in revenue. If you want to stop crime demand these judges sent these perps to prison not double or triple probation for their offense.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone remember when this job was fun and you look forward to coming to work? The excitement of catching bad guys and helping people.

I have been here for a few years and I'm slowly losing that feeling. The last 10 years have been hell. I hope we have some sort of light for this tunnel we are in today.

We are still the best of the best.

I know they are trying to improve morale but when the CEO rewards all his staff with raises and car allowances we are done.

Anonymous said...

Maybe this "Rolling Thunder" should go leave a big 'steamer' in the middle of Admiral Rader's district and let his constituent's bear some of the burden.

Anonymous said...

Ya know, I log on to this website on a weekly basis to catch up on what is going on with DeKalb PD and every time I do so I grow more and more disappointed. Just about every blog post I read is a complaint. A complaint about how the brass is doing their job, a complaint about how bad things are for the officers, a complaint about how much money you deserve and about how bad you have it. Have any of you ever considered the fact that you have a job. In your eyes it may suck, in fact it may suck badly but like I said "at least you have a job!"
I hear you complain about the lack of manpower and how you could do soo much more if only you had more money. I read your posts complaining about the ideas or programs initiated by the brass in order to boost morale or generate revenue for the county yet I never see any comments proposing new ideas. Wait, no, I'm wrong...there was an idea today...this post in fact. But it’s not realistic. I think I like this one the best
“You need Manpower to literally shut down the intersections, dope corners, high traffic areas of any and all mayhem. That means multiple police cars, prisoner vans, teams working together around the clock, etc.”
I hate to say it but…WRONG!!!
What you need is officers who appreciate the fact that they have a job, a job most would love to have, a job where you have the right to take the initiative and tackle these problems themselves. It starts with the beat officers. Take some initiative and tackle the problem. Do traffic stops and look beyond the citations, lock up a doper and flip him to find his source, handle a case yourself and take the investigation as far as you can.
Do you need a pat on the back to do your job correctly or is the fact that you have a paycheck enough. If you’re not happy with the ideas presented by the brass come up with a realistic solution to the problem and present it to your supervisor. So what if they take it, run with it and claim all the credit. At least what you suggested may be put into action.
At the very least stop complaining; at least you have a job…that pays you.
I guess the long and short of what I am saying is that if where you work is so incredibly bad and you can no longer take it…QUIT! Ring the bell, drop out, walk away. At least at that point the PD will have one less person to pay and maybe others can get a raise!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 2:48: I agree. This blog is sad, I would bet that most of the frequent "bloggers" do not truly represent the Dekalb Officers. I think they are attempting to make their personal issues everybody else's issues. We all are experiencing hard times. If you are just complaining with presenting at least an option for the solution, then you are the problem. Listen real officers, stay the course, be safe, protect each other and dont let someone's else problem become yours. We will survive this episode. I truly believe these hard times are upon us to weed out the imposters and fake officers. For those of you who are leaving. bye! Its not mandatory that you stay here..just leave, so we can start the healing and hopefully get some true and real commanders in place who care about this department and its officers.

Anonymous said...

Hey anon 2:48, thanks for the pep talk Captain or is it Major?

Anonymous said...

If some of the "command staff" would retire it would improve morale via new promotions and raises. Sadly they stay because they are still impressed by rank and have no other life outside of DKPD. ...PATHETIC

Anonymous said...

I agree this blog is now and always has been nothing but a bitch,moan,whine, and complain about the bosses whoever they are. People have and always will complain about their supervisors, you dang sure can't make everybody happy. This blog turns it into personal attacks and some readers obviously believe most of the crap written about people. We fail to realize that these personal attacks that are most often unwarranted can and do effect the personal lives and career's of some good people. I think we need to go back to bitching at choir practices instead of a public blog. It worked that way for years and this place was much better for it. This department will never recover as long as this blog runs. It surely is not much incentive to get promoted so you can get smeared on the blog. I vote for shut it down and give O'Brien a chance. Why dont you poll that.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the blog has a lot of complaining, bitching and moaning - some justified some maybe not. But to the ones who say "be lucky you have a job", you people need to wake up, look around and see how it is different now than when you started work. Most likely you can 'suck it up soldier' because you already have advanced rank, got a nice salary and whatever, which is fine as you probably worked hard for it.

The problem is that the current system does not allow the newer county employees to advance like that anymore. They system is stacked against them in all ways: Smaller pay checks, slower advancement and more deductions, not to mention terrible leadership.

Does anyone think it is fair that the lowest paid group of employees have to pay the retirement for the highest paid given that the current employees will NEVER hit the same end salaries as the current retired? The old guard cashed in, pumped up the salaries and then retired leaving us to pay for it. Thanks.

I can, will and have taken "one for the team" many times, but when it feels like only some of us have to do it and the "few and the favored" are exempt....well that gets folks upset.

Hard times to do not lower morale, unequal treatment and disrespect does.

When the troops are upset, the true leaders listen, find a solution then lead. Leaders don't whine at the troops for complaining. It is the leaders job to lead and have the ideas, not the troops. That is why we have leaders.

If the best the leaders can come up with is "be glad you have a job" then we have already lost.

Anonymous said...

Is having a job where you can't make ends meet really any better than being unemployed? Its made worse by the fact that I should be making more but the county administrators have seen fit to reduce my pay and increase my expenses. Then, to add insult to injury, they tell me "to carry more of the burden". Yeah, I guess I should be thanking my lucky stars to have such a wonderful place to work.

Anonymous said...

Here's an idea: How about the county start deducting from our check a "Thankful to Have a Job Fund". Maybe it could go into the pocket of Rader, or Burrell or even Wiz.

The deduction can be listed right beside "Furlough".

Anonymous said...

Sounds like good old fashion police work to me. It's just being pointed out we don't have manpower and some in the command staff don't have the fortitude.

So the next best thing? Let's write tickets!

Anonymous said...

I am glad I retired and don't have to go through this polictical assasination of character. The post speaks of everyone being wrong except Chief Bill O'Brien. BOC, Ellis, Wiiz, Rader, Asst. Chiefs, Deputy Chiefs,Select Majors, Bolton, Bolton Cronies. I heard Bill is now running blog. these type posts definitely make that rumor appear to be credible. .OMG

Anonymous said...

HEY 7:23, IT DOES SOUND LIKE ONE OF THOSE (rhymes with Lick-LeadS)! TRUTH OF THE MATTER MAJOR, THAT SHIT GETS OLD REAL QUICK!!! THE TOPIC OF YOU'LL COMP-STAT MEETINGS HAS CHANGED AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO... BILLY'BOY O'BRIEN KNOWS THIS HIMSELF.. (check the last post) We still continue to write citations, There are still over 100 apps elsewhere, and We will continue complain..

so go (rhymes with Luck yourself)..

my only gripe with the blog is that we need to make a stand instead of blogging. We should call for a major revolt. ONCE A WEEK A WHOLE WATCH (NORTH-SOUTH-EAST-TUCKER-CENTER)SHOULD CALL IN... EVENING ONE WEEK, DAY ANOTHER WEEK THEN MORNING... AND WE SHOULD CONTINUE TO DO SO UNTIL THEY START TAKING CARE OF WHAT REALLY MATTERS!!!

Anonymous said...

Great idea when some precincts have less officers on duty than some of our small cities withing the county. Stop caving tho the CEO and BOC with revenue generating ideas and lets work to take out the criminals. When it takes 15 mins. to respond to a priority call you are not going to catch the perp. With current manpower we need to concentrate on handling calls. By the way Wiz please stay hidden, you are less destructive to the department that way.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 2:48: I agree. The first blog was obviously written by someone who has watched too many episodes of " The Wire". Is that you McNulty out there on the Dekalb blog. Look..its a simple as this, if you're unhappy...QUIT!..otherwise, stop your whining.

Anonymous said...

So you say if you dont like here, quit. Sounds great to me.I will be doing just that....You say be glad to have a job?? HHHaa your funny because there ARE jobs out there and I will have one when I leave.. 59 days and I "M outta here" You say to stay for the healing,,, I will find a place that wasnt sick, so no healing time needed.
I will not pay more for a pension, that I will not get more from.. I will just find a new place and start a new pension with them and not lose anything, including my life.....Bye Bye....

Buck Rogers said...

Nothing has changed in this place, just the name tags. The same old good ol'boy crap going on behind the scenes. I've heard that there's no need to be on the CID list any longer to get into CID now. Just rub elbows with the right people. Please someone tell me that this isn't true.

It's quite a shame that this department comes out with policies and procedures and tells everyone this is how we conduct business then completely circumvent that process by selecting people into open positions that never took the test. I'm trying to understand why I even bothered taking the CID test if this is true. I guess the way to get out of uniform is be in the right crowd or start running in the right circles. I hope the chosen ones can hold their head up knowing they cheated the process.

Why who an I kidding or course they will. Can this place get anymore screwed up? I'm waiting.

Anonymous said...

The way to get out of uniform:

1) write a well written detailed report.....that means writing more than "I responded to the above location.....see property section for items stolen.... see suspect for description...."

2) do more than just answer your dispatches

3) stop whining.

4) get noticed by having good follow up....ask the right questions and do a high level investigation at tgmhe scene when appropriate to do so

5) come up with suggestions or ideas that will improve you and/or your team.

6) stay out of the trouble that plagues so many... with that badge comes accountability and responsibility .....not privilege.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Blogger, this is where you instigate crap that you know nothing about.

People,
"TAC" is participating in "Rolling Thunder" as a part of their job. Fortunately, what is happening is that S.O.D. is not falling into that trap of handling everything that the precincts throw at them. “They Are a SUPPORT” element, not your answer to your crime problem. All SOD officers are being instructed to “Do Their Daily Mission” In your crime areas…. JOB SPECIFIC! In other words, CVE spends an hour or two on each inspection (as they do every day)… Parks patrol their parks (as they do every day)… Motors enforce traffic laws (as they do every day)… STAR hunts DUI’s in the assigned areas (as they do every day), SWAT/Strike force hits the bad areas, and K-9’s are covering 22 out of 24 hours, 7 days a week… In order to create a presence to deter crime!!! All of this in response to the “Precincts” specific requested “Hot Spots”; with the caveat, that the precincts “MUST” follow-up with a plan that allows for continued enforcement. That’s it!!!

The SOD Commanders have been very specific that stats “ARE NOT AN ISSUE”!!! SOD’s stats are DOWN by 25% because of “Rolling Thunder”… Take time to read your COMPSTAT brief!!! And No pressure from command to step it up!

The bottom line is this, just as you all have a job to do (answer your radio and respond) SOD has a job to do. Uniform is conducting a citation slow down… OK??? Are you expecting the Fire Department to take time to make a cup of coffee before they leave the station to respond to your house fire??? Would you want EMS to take a minute, and think “….well, if we hold on another 15 minutes, it will be the A shifts’ turn to respond”???
Answer…. : “NO!!!” Are we happy about the crap? Answer… : NO!!! Can we individually change it? Answer… : NO!!! Does it help that the blog master has his facts wrong? Answer…: NO!!!

We all still have a job to do… Uniform has the luxury of having “Discretion” of making the traffic stop or not… SOD doesn’t! That’s their job…

OH By The Way, did you know that STAR and CVE operate under grants??? Yes, they do, and there are grant requirements that all of SOD must fulfill, including certain state and federal operations that they “MUST” participate in. All of which have nifty titles like “Rolling Thunder…” Yes, it’s money, but it subsidizes the budget cuts that allow them to operate, so that they don't have to increase ther stats...

Mr. Blogger, did you ever think (or assume) that SOD’s Rolling Thunder, was merely titled and designed to meet grant requirements??? Guess Not!!

People,
Pay only half as much attention to the blogger’s post as you do your safety…. We are in dangerous times…We all have our job to do, and doing our job comes in many many many forms… Just because some of you have different jobs than others, doesn’t mean that they are any less committed to the cause than you!

All though the blog master has a lot of accurate information, he/she has a lot of inaccurate information…. Keep that in mind!!! By posting such an ignorant post, he / she merely undermines everything….