This blog page was established so DeKalb County Police Officers including their family and friends may have a place to hold discussions, post news and vent without fear of retribution.
There's some "thinking out of the box" going on in Gwinnett County. Somebody in their command staff came up with a brilliant idea of putting Tag Readers on marked police cars and putting them on the streets. At least 3 of these marked units are in 3 separate precincts with more on the way.
But here in DeKalb, our command staff has a much different philosophy. See, we have ONE marked police car with the Tag Reader for 5 precincts to share. We have 3 more on detective cars which sit in a private residence driveway 14 hours a day 3 days out of the week.
Ingenious!
51 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I heard that at one time in this department history we were always the first in technology. You cannot blame leadership without money to buy things.
Then you have to look at what programs and departments the BOC spends money on.
This county is a black hole when it comes to money.
I think DeKalb has the right idea here. If you're a kid in a stolen car and see a mark unit with cameras all around it, you're going to flee or bail out of the car before that tag reader has even notified the officer in the car. But if you have some unmarked cars with these cameras, the unmarked unit keep on eye on the stolen vehicle until some marked units surround it, and catch the perp in the car, instead of finding it abandoned a few miles down the road.
Something tells me that certain people can and will download the results of these LPR cars every shift and want to know why you ain't coming in with 15 tickets and 5 J1's a shift minimum...and yeah, I know you OLD SCHOOL guys used to do that ech shift without an LPR car...save it...
Give the LPR car to the rookies who'll write that no matter what...
I have a question....Why in the hell would you go on the news in front of a camera and tell everyone out there the latest equipment you have to fight crime...shouldn't that be kept under wraps so that it could be more effective...now the perps are out there looking for the damn things....Just like the damn police...give up all your secrets to the enemy
Or maybe they came from people smarter than you, but you're just too stupid to know just how stupid you really are. Maybe that's why you typed "there" when you should have typed "those." I think you meant to type "they're," which also would have been grammatically gross, but thanks for proving my point for me.
Why don't you "edumucate" us all on the faulty logic of those posts?
Gwinnett has something Dekalb doesn't have...a serious and competent police chief. A chief who is serious about reducing crime, stands up for their officers and works with other agencies rather than fighting them (Clayton County PD and cities anyone).
Dekalb is no longer concerned with non-traffic J-1's. There's no money in running a repeat offender through the system for the 12th time to get time served. Short of a serial killer giving bad press, it's all about the dollar. Can't say I blame them. Look at Highland Park and Detroit, you'll be lucky if your street lights aren't repoed.
and by the way to Anon #3. Yes the old timers would spot Code 4 vehicles by the looks of the car and/or driver. Of course back then there was a kickass 10-80, a foot pursuit, followed by a trip to Grady. Do they even trust most of you to have chases anymore? Don't know, just asking.
You know one thing that would eliminate some of this "Us Against Them" mentality would be to have our supervisors actually do police work as in other Departments. Granted some of them have additional tasks but requiring one long copy daily from them would go a lot further when asking us for five.
The reason supervisors aren't required to be "Working Supervisors" is that the stat gatherers could no longer get them to go along with this citation driven nonsense. Though I agree one long copy in ten hours is not asking too much. North used to require supervisors keep P.O. Sheets. Not sure what happened to that either.
Remember the "No Pending Calls" policy a few years ago that had radio assigning Sgts and Lts calls when all other units were busy. That lasted about a week before they resorted back to Old DeKalb Stupidity.
We had to police (and especially survive) by our wits back then. We were more intuitive and operated on gut feelings and knowledge gained from working years on the streets. A code 4 car stood out like a sore thumb and if we weren't too busy we knew where we could go to find one pretty quickly. All this new technology is nothing more than an effort to make up for the lack of having experienced cops on the street. Back then, most officers had a military back ground and were pretty tough characters in the 1st place or they just werent hired. DKPD became so bad almost all of those officers left or retired years ago. I feel sorry for the newer officers. They never had truly bad ass cops to mentor them like we did and we ALL lost out on the comraderie when the county was taken over by crooks. We need to plan a cookout, bonfire & chior practice in the spring and I dont mean at Stone Mountain either. BYOB and BYOG and ammo!
Most sergeants have no problem jumping calls or handling J2.....the problem is, their main job is monitoring the radio, backing officers and being aware of what is going on. The buck stops AT the sergeant level.... There is no accountability and help from above that level. Above that level, the lieutenant is ready, waiting, and perfectly willing to write up a sergeant in order to shift any responsibility from their position.
Sergeants can't afford to have their attention diverted away from the overall picture.... they have no one that will jump in and assist them when they need help. Their focus is on CYA and they operate in "survival mode".
No Pending calls would necessitate that ICP and NET handle patrolling the "hot spots" that somehow become the problem and sole responsibility of uniform officers who can only hit those areas when pending calls permit. It would also require that lieutenants do more than nit pick, generate paperwork, watch TV or do personal things while at work.
These Directives that come from on high usually beg the question "Isn't that the reason we have NET and ICP teams?".... Uniform officers are busy responding to calls and meeting quota.
What ever happened to simple, old fashioned police work? 20 years ago Sgt Combie would grab about 3 veterans and 1 rookie around 7pm, get in that uc caddy we had at south, go to East Hampton and kick ass! No 3 page operational plan needed, as now required by Yarbrough. No UOF report needed because the perp got a scrath on his elbow. The rookie officer gained valuable experience on how to police. I can't ever remember sgts back then hounding you about tickets. It was all about putting asses in jail. Coming to work was fun back then!
I remember seeing the car equipped with the tag-reader, inquired about it and was told what it was for. I kind of thought it was cheating, just like I consider red-light cams used by the city of Decatur. After listening to you guys about its ability to spot stolan vehicles I will rethink my opinion. Like some have said in the posts, I think DKPD cops have lost some their "street smarts". From what I have observed, DKPD cops spend way to much time doing paperwork and social work rather than straight law enforcement. I know the DKPD technology group was working on the problem when I left, the goal was was to use the vehicles laptop as a platform for reducing time spent doing paperwork. On the lighter side and off topic, here is a link to my Christmas present to myself. http://www.rockriverarms.com/popup.cfm?type=i&id=products/pu68coy.gif I am in the market for some optical sights for this baby. Trijicon is just way to expensive for me. Any of you have a recommendation for a good, rugged optical sight for a 6.8 mm M-4 that doesn't cost an arm and leg? Best of luck guys! KenC
There used to be Sgts that said to put one another and our safety first above all else. Now they only inquire about our ticket stats, truly sad state of affairs.
Gwinnett Sheriff's office has 11 tag reader cars with more on the way, all with top of the line tag readers all coupled with GCIC/NCIC and their local warrants database....that includes all the muni warrants from the 9 cities in Gwinnett. Gwinnett SO got their first one 3 years ago.
Atlanta PD has several marked cars with their auto theft unit that have these.
When it became more beneficial for politicians to use police officers as sales agents rather than public safety, police work has not been the same. I used to hear about initiatives in the papers all the time about various clean sweep initiatives now all I see from departments is traffic enforcement campaigns. You had officers who knocked themselves over wanting to police a high crime area. Now, you have officers who simply want to get a cushy rich enclave area where you can just park and read the newspaper. Officers looked forward to retiring from their agency, now they just use agencies such as DKPD, APD, Clayton County PD and then run off to other agencies as an experienced officer. There were days we do collaborations with other agencies, now we have turf wars or who is better than who.
It is all about the people. Command staff with the fortitude to give the public what they need instead of what they want. A command staff to give their employees the freedom to grow and learn. On the flip side, You aren't going to have the type of leadership you need because they will not work in an oppressive environment such as Dekalb. Even with the correct leadership, your hiring standards effect how much freedom you can give your people. All this coupled with an oppressive political climate, down economy, and the fact Dekalb has now even ruined its reputation as a training ground are all reasons Dekalb is now a has been.
Some of you on this blog think the command staff actually has the power to do something. Fresh off the press, they do not have the power, just ask the CEO and the Director. Now those are the ones with the power, when Bobby was forced out thats when the command staff lost their power. Its the new steppin and fetching show, every BOC member has their two cents of say so on everything the Police and Fire Depts do. The Position of Director of Public Safety has been a huge disapointment as has the last 2 CEO's I say do away with both of them and the BOC.
I work everyday as a Sergeant,baby sitting all the officers who call me asking stupid shit that they should know. So trust me when I say, I do more work as a supervisor then I ever did as an officer, so shut your mouths before I smack you.
The command staff, blah, blah, blah. Those that blame the command staff really don't know how it works. Look at the budget submitted by PD, then look at it after the CEO and BOC gut it. The command staff puts in for more and better equipment every year. Every year the CEO and BOC gut it. PD has a dedicated mill this year, but I hear that some of the money earmarked for PD was diverted. Last year, the command staff proved that take home cars for all officers would be cost effective in the long run, save tons of money over the years and improve morale. The CEO and BOC shot it down, because the first year cost for cars would be a little higher than they are normally used to paying. And no I'm not an aide, I just know someone that was on the committee looking into the whole project. We who don't have take home cars should get a monthly stipend like all the employees for the CEO and BOC get. The CEO and BOC want community centers and senior centers. They all act like PD is a necessary evil until election time rolls around and then they come courting. The FOP and any other organization here has no business supporting any candidate for any county office.
I bet Lt. Occutard gets a pass on this, because he has friends in high places and his conduct is probably not being investigated by the feds. First, a citizen has to complain to the feds and then they'll investigate. But, since HUD is a large agency, you'll be lucky if you can get anyone to initiate an investigation. As with all things dealing with a government agency, what works in DeKalb, also works at the federal level. If you complain to your commissioner, your complaint will most likely be looked at. If you complain to your congressman, your complaint will most likely be investigated.
Looks like yo need to start doing some developmental plan evals on your troops Sgt. Mack Daddy instead of entertaining stupid questions. Then you can pull your weight too via citation stats.
Anon 11:00 AM, You are dead on target! Its not just DKPD command staff either. Every Director and Asst. Director fears for the loss of their jobs after the change of county policy regarding the directors ability to appeal being fired for no cause. This asshat policy change was thanks to good ole' Vernon Jones. The chief, directors and asst directors for the most part know exactly what the problems are facing their department and providing good service to DeKalb citizens. They know most of the employees are underpaid, the roofs are leaking, problems are going unaddressed because there is not enough staff to handle the problems inherent with government operations. Unfortunately under Vernon Jones "reign of terror" the directors found out real fast if they did not publically agree with Vern's every whim they would be fired within days. I watched some very good people take retirement early because their conscience would not allow them to work under the restrictions of "Vindictive" Vern. Their replacements were totally cowed and intimidated by Vernon Jones "reign of terror". They knew what was right and wrong for DeKalb citizens and government. They could not speak publically of the issues because Vern would can their ass. The Dunwoody secession was when I lost all faith in the CEO, BOC and Dekalb government management. A blind person could recognize that refusing to negotiate with DeKalb citizens over valid issues was the hieght of arrogant stupidity driven by ego's the size of Montana. Every director in the county knew the CEO/BOC handling of the Dunwoody secession was dead wrong. None would speak out against the insanity because good ole' Vern would fire them instantly for resisting his dark side. The DeKalb BOC and CEO, and HR director Ransom has done absolutely nothing to repair the damage done to county management by Vern's "reign of terror". Instead CEO Burrel Ellis brought back Richard Stognar who has been doing an absolutely crappy job as chief of staff. When the CEO's office refuses to consult with the BOC budget chair Lee Mays on the county budget, the CEO and his chief of staff are failing to perform their duties as specified in their job descriptions. My extremely opinionated opinion, KenC
Sgt. Mack Daddy...well said. I totally agree and concur. In addition to supervising I spend my time answering stupid questions from officers who couldn't decide between paper or plastic without calling their sergeant. (that being said, I do have some who are fine, hard working, honest officers that make me proud.)
On top of that, instead of getting involved and assisting when the shit hits the fan,the white shirts at my precinct spend their time Monday morning quarterbacking. I spend half my time looking over my shoulder and covering my ass to protect myself from white shirts looking to generate paper with their signature for the major to see.
The chief needs to take a surprise, unannounced walk through at each of the precincts during each watch to see what is really going on and what is being done while officers and sergeants are having their asses handed to them on the streets. I don't know what my lieutenant is working on but, I don't believe it is police related.
Lt. Ocutard and a federal investigation? For what? .... also, like the Black Panthers voter intimidation case, Eric Holder would not look twice or prosecute if there even was a federal violation. .
You NEVER allow your officers to ask you stupid questions. You instead force them to come to you with their own solutions each time and then both work through a problem or a legal issue. It amazes me the total idiots that get rank in this agency. Half these Sgt's literally have no clue what street level drug interdiction is, nor do that have a single informant or know how to work one.
To anon 12:17PM Your first paragraph was right on the money. If you continue to answer the stupid questions from your officers, then they'll never learn how to do the job correctly. They'll just take the easy way out and call you. The best way to help your officers is to tell them they can't call you anymore and no you won't go to TAC. Tell them to go ahead with their traffic over the main channel. That will cure their desire to have you make their decisions for them.
With all that is going on in the county and the commissioners, I don't understand why any of you complainers don't get out and do something about it. If you know of something that is going on that shouldn't, call or email the FBI office here in Atlanta. They have a guy who's job is to solely deal with DeKalb County. I wrote a long letter not to long ago and guess what??? He called me. So stop bitching and do something about it, I know I am!
On the topic of those LPR cars, yes we have one and I have to drive it from time to time. It is a raggedy piece of shit and doesn't even work right. It scans everything, tags...trees...gates, etc. Auto theft is a joke too. I arrested a guy recently and had to basically handle the whole thing myself due to the fact that auto theft is filled with a bunch of retards. Its like they don't really want to arrest anyone.
AGAIN, most agencies realize the benefit (cost savings & otherwise) of cross training personnel. How many times could PD have bandaged someone on a 41I and suggested they see their Dr. at their convenience rather than rolling out Fire and/or EMS?
No one MADE you take a promotion. If unable to competently perform ask for a demotion (no testing required) and let an energized competent officer take your place.
My God, what has happened to my old county? Where are the real cops like Bobby Burgess, Capt. ET Wagnon, LT Davis, Anglin, Jive Turkey (JT), Tom Morgan, Hugh Combee, Lamar Reynolds, Tom Watson, Sgt. Rogers, etc, etc.
I got to admit, I do miss the old days. When i came through in the late 90's, there wasn't so much paper work and to froms, as there are now. I remember Sgts chewing me out after a call and that was it. No roll call topic the next day. Now with the new feel good police, officers cant tell officers shit, its frustrating. I remember getting out of newer units for vets. Getting to a call when other officers are there and having to handle the call, as I watched my sgt and the other officers drive away. Yes I made mistakes but also I made decisions. Unlike the current officers who will not make decisions because the don't want to make a mistake. Yes this started with "Vern" and seems like no end in sight. Watching Dekalb fall is like watching a slow train wreck. I'm just glad, I'm now watching from the outside. By the way how is that new major working out East. Dang, took too muck time typing this post, Radio I'll be 10-94 Fairington Pkwy and Fairington Rd.
To 12-28 2:57.....I was a lieutenant and I considered myself responsible for every damn thing that happend on my watch. Nobody kept up with what was going on more than me. I also insisted that my sergeants kept up with what was goin on and closely supervised rookies and slugs and that the watch backed each other all of the time. My sergeants had a plan to crush crime every day as soon as the calls died down. Hint...when a good working officer J1's a thug or DUI etc, that has to go to Grady...don't send the good hard working officer. Send the slugs. They don't care where they spend their shift as long as they don't have to work.Keep the good hard working officer on the road and not baby sitting at Grady or similiar situations.I also considered a good ole ass chewing the best disciplinary action instead of writing guy's up for BS...but I suspect some officers there now won't be able to take a good old fashioned cussing ass chewing.
I wish you were around now... my current Lt. is too busy doing personal stuff to keep up with what is going on or jump in when it hits the fan....you see him when the media is 10-7 and you hear from him he's looking to write you up or put you in your place.
Being a line officer or a sergeant is not what it used to be.....punch the clock (yes, we swipe in and swipe out ) and try and not draw any attention to ourselves during the watch.
I used to look forward to going to work.... now I debate whether or not I should call in sick.
51 comments:
I heard that at one time in this department history we were always the first in technology. You cannot blame leadership without money to buy things.
Then you have to look at what programs and departments the BOC spends money on.
This county is a black hole when it comes to money.
I think DeKalb has the right idea here. If you're a kid in a stolen car and see a mark unit with cameras all around it, you're going to flee or bail out of the car before that tag reader has even notified the officer in the car. But if you have some unmarked cars with these cameras, the unmarked unit keep on eye on the stolen vehicle until some marked units surround it, and catch the perp in the car, instead of finding it abandoned a few miles down the road.
Something tells me that certain people can and will download the results of these LPR cars every shift and want to know why you ain't coming in with 15 tickets and 5 J1's a shift minimum...and yeah, I know you OLD SCHOOL guys used to do that ech shift without an LPR car...save it...
Give the LPR car to the rookies who'll write that no matter what...
There 1st 2 comments are either from the guys in CID who take the cars home, or just plan ignorant.
I have a question....Why in the hell would you go on the news in front of a camera and tell everyone out there the latest equipment you have to fight crime...shouldn't that be kept under wraps so that it could be more effective...now the perps are out there looking for the damn things....Just like the damn police...give up all your secrets to the enemy
Anon 3:04,
Or maybe they came from people smarter than you, but you're just too stupid to know just how stupid you really are. Maybe that's why you typed "there" when you should have typed "those." I think you meant to type "they're," which also would have been grammatically gross, but thanks for proving my point for me.
Why don't you "edumucate" us all on the faulty logic of those posts?
Gwinnett has something Dekalb doesn't have...a serious and competent police chief. A chief who is serious about reducing crime, stands up for their officers and works with other agencies rather than fighting them (Clayton County PD and cities anyone).
Dekalb is no longer concerned with non-traffic J-1's. There's no money in running a repeat offender through the system for the 12th time to get time served. Short of a serial killer giving bad press, it's all about the dollar. Can't say I blame them. Look at Highland Park and Detroit, you'll be lucky if your street lights aren't repoed.
and by the way to Anon #3. Yes the old timers would spot Code 4 vehicles by the looks of the car and/or driver. Of course back then there was a kickass 10-80, a foot pursuit, followed by a trip to Grady. Do they even trust most of you to have chases anymore? Don't know, just asking.
Has a public record inquiry been made on any I.A. investigation regarding Lt Occutard's CLEARLY illegal and policy violating activity?
You know one thing that would eliminate some of this "Us Against Them" mentality would be to have our supervisors actually do police work as in other Departments. Granted some of them have additional tasks but requiring one long copy daily from them would go a lot further when asking us for five.
The reason supervisors aren't required to be "Working Supervisors" is that the stat gatherers could no longer get them to go along with this citation driven nonsense.
Though I agree one long copy in ten hours is not asking too much. North used to require supervisors keep P.O. Sheets. Not sure what happened to that either.
Remember the "No Pending Calls" policy a few years ago that had radio assigning Sgts and Lts calls when all other units were busy. That lasted about a week before they resorted back to Old DeKalb Stupidity.
To Dec 27 7:10 Pm...
We had to police (and especially survive) by our wits back then. We were more intuitive and operated on gut feelings and knowledge gained from working years on the streets. A code 4 car stood out like a sore thumb and if we weren't too busy we knew where we could go to find one pretty quickly.
All this new technology is nothing more than an effort to make up for the lack of having experienced cops on the street. Back then, most officers had a military back ground and were pretty tough characters in the 1st place or they just werent hired. DKPD became so bad almost all of those officers left or retired years ago.
I feel sorry for the newer officers. They never had truly bad ass cops to mentor them like we did and we ALL lost out on the comraderie when the county was taken over by crooks.
We need to plan a cookout, bonfire & chior practice in the spring and I dont mean at Stone Mountain either. BYOB and BYOG and ammo!
Sgt Friendly
Most sergeants have no problem jumping calls or handling J2.....the problem is, their main job is monitoring the radio, backing officers and being aware of what is going on. The buck stops AT the sergeant level.... There is no accountability and help from above that level. Above that level, the lieutenant is ready, waiting, and perfectly willing to write up a sergeant in order to shift any responsibility from their position.
Sergeants can't afford to have their attention diverted away from the overall picture.... they have no one that will jump in and assist them when they need help. Their focus is on CYA and they operate in "survival mode".
No Pending calls would necessitate that ICP and NET handle patrolling the "hot spots" that somehow become the problem and sole responsibility of uniform officers who can only hit those areas when pending calls permit. It would also require that lieutenants do more than nit pick, generate paperwork, watch TV or do personal things while at work.
These Directives that come from on high usually beg the question "Isn't that the reason we have NET and ICP teams?".... Uniform officers are busy responding to calls and meeting quota.
What ever happened to simple, old fashioned police work? 20 years ago Sgt Combie would grab about 3 veterans and 1 rookie around 7pm, get in that uc caddy we had at south, go to East Hampton and kick ass! No 3 page operational plan needed, as now required by Yarbrough. No UOF report needed because the perp got a scrath on his elbow. The rookie officer gained valuable experience on how to police. I can't ever remember sgts back then hounding you about tickets. It was all about putting asses in jail. Coming to work was fun back then!
I remember seeing the car equipped with the tag-reader, inquired about it and was told what it was for. I kind of thought it was cheating, just like I consider red-light cams used by the city of Decatur. After listening to you guys about its ability to spot stolan vehicles I will rethink my opinion.
Like some have said in the posts, I think DKPD cops have lost some their "street smarts". From what I have observed, DKPD cops spend way to much time doing paperwork and social work rather than straight law enforcement. I know the DKPD technology group was working on the problem when I left, the goal was was to use the vehicles laptop as a platform for reducing time spent doing paperwork.
On the lighter side and off topic, here is a link to my Christmas present to myself.
http://www.rockriverarms.com/popup.cfm?type=i&id=products/pu68coy.gif
I am in the market for some optical sights for this baby.
Trijicon is just way to expensive for me. Any of you have a recommendation for a good, rugged optical sight for a 6.8 mm M-4 that doesn't cost an arm and leg?
Best of luck guys!
KenC
There used to be Sgts that said to put one another and our safety first above all else. Now they only inquire about our ticket stats, truly sad state of affairs.
Gwinnett Sheriff's office has 11 tag reader cars with more on the way, all with top of the line tag readers all coupled with GCIC/NCIC and their local warrants database....that includes all the muni warrants from the 9 cities in Gwinnett.
Gwinnett SO got their first one 3 years ago.
Atlanta PD has several marked cars with their auto theft unit that have these.
Dekalb PD is broken, a few cameras cant fix a command problem.
When it became more beneficial for politicians to use police officers as sales agents rather than public safety, police work has not been the same. I used to hear about initiatives in the papers all the time about various clean sweep initiatives now all I see from departments is traffic enforcement campaigns. You had officers who knocked themselves over wanting to police a high crime area. Now, you have officers who simply want to get a cushy rich enclave area where you can just park and read the newspaper. Officers looked forward to retiring from their agency, now they just use agencies such as DKPD, APD, Clayton County PD and then run off to other agencies as an experienced officer. There were days we do collaborations with other agencies, now we have turf wars or who is better than who.
It is all about the people. Command staff with the fortitude to give the public what they need instead of what they want. A command staff to give their employees the freedom to grow and learn. On the flip side, You aren't going to have the type of leadership you need because they will not work in an oppressive environment such as Dekalb. Even with the correct leadership, your hiring standards effect how much freedom you can give your people. All this coupled with an oppressive political climate, down economy, and the fact Dekalb has now even ruined its reputation as a training ground are all reasons Dekalb is now a has been.
Some of you on this blog think the command staff actually has the power to do something. Fresh off the press, they do not have the power, just ask the CEO and the Director. Now those are the ones with the power, when Bobby was forced out thats when the command staff lost their power. Its the new steppin and fetching show, every BOC member has their two cents of say so on everything the Police and Fire Depts do. The Position of Director of Public Safety has been a huge disapointment as has the last 2 CEO's I say do away with both of them and the BOC.
Regardless, sometimes you have to be a man and show support for what's right instead of pushing their ticket agenda as usual.
I work everyday as a Sergeant,baby sitting all the officers who call me asking stupid shit that they should know.
So trust me when I say, I do more work as a supervisor then I ever did as an officer, so shut your mouths before I smack you.
The command staff, blah, blah, blah. Those that blame the command staff really don't know how it works. Look at the budget submitted by PD, then look at it after the CEO and BOC gut it. The command staff puts in for more and better equipment every year. Every year the CEO and BOC gut it. PD has a dedicated mill this year, but I hear that some of the money earmarked for PD was diverted. Last year, the command staff proved that take home cars for all officers would be cost effective in the long run, save tons of money over the years and improve morale. The CEO and BOC shot it down, because the first year cost for cars would be a little higher than they are normally used to paying. And no I'm not an aide, I just know someone that was on the committee looking into the whole project. We who don't have take home cars should get a monthly stipend like all the employees for the CEO and BOC get.
The CEO and BOC want community centers and senior centers. They all act like PD is a necessary evil until election time rolls around and then they come courting.
The FOP and any other organization here has no business supporting any candidate for any county office.
I bet Lt. Occutard gets a pass on this, because he has friends in high places and his conduct is probably not being investigated by the feds. First, a citizen has to complain to the feds and then they'll investigate. But, since HUD is a large agency, you'll be lucky if you can get anyone to initiate an investigation. As with all things dealing with a government agency, what works in DeKalb, also works at the federal level. If you complain to your commissioner, your complaint will most likely be looked at. If you complain to your congressman, your complaint will most likely be investigated.
I'm afraid I'm gonna have to pull rank on you. I didn't want to have to do this. I'm with the Mattress Police. There are no tags on these mattresses.
I would have been here sooner, but a manure-spreader jackknifed on the Santa Anna.... Gawdawful mess. You should see my shoes.
Looks like yo need to start doing some developmental plan evals on your troops Sgt. Mack Daddy instead of entertaining stupid questions. Then you can pull your weight too via citation stats.
Anon 11:00 AM,
You are dead on target! Its not just DKPD command staff either. Every Director and Asst. Director fears for the loss of their jobs after the change of county policy regarding the directors ability to appeal being fired for no cause. This asshat policy change was thanks to good ole' Vernon Jones. The chief, directors and asst directors for the most part know exactly what the problems are facing their department and providing good service to DeKalb citizens. They know most of the employees are underpaid, the roofs are leaking, problems are going unaddressed because there is not enough staff to handle the problems inherent with government operations.
Unfortunately under Vernon Jones "reign of terror" the directors found out real fast if they did not publically agree with Vern's every whim they would be fired within days.
I watched some very good people take retirement early because their conscience would not allow them to work under the restrictions of "Vindictive" Vern. Their replacements were totally cowed and intimidated by Vernon Jones "reign of terror". They knew what was right and wrong for DeKalb citizens and government. They could not speak publically of the issues because Vern would can their ass.
The Dunwoody secession was when I lost all faith in the CEO, BOC and Dekalb government management. A blind person could recognize that refusing to negotiate with DeKalb citizens over valid issues was the hieght of arrogant stupidity driven by ego's the size of Montana.
Every director in the county knew the CEO/BOC handling of the Dunwoody secession was dead wrong. None would speak out against the insanity because good ole' Vern would fire them instantly for resisting his dark side.
The DeKalb BOC and CEO, and HR director Ransom has done absolutely nothing to repair the damage done to county management by Vern's "reign of terror".
Instead CEO Burrel Ellis brought back Richard Stognar who has been doing an absolutely crappy job as chief of staff. When the CEO's office refuses to consult with the BOC budget chair Lee Mays on the county budget, the CEO and his chief of staff are failing to perform their duties as specified in their job descriptions.
My extremely opinionated opinion,
KenC
I like turtles...
Once again, LoFlyer, you are right on the money. And along comes Brookhaven....same song, second verse.
Sgt. Mack Daddy...well said. I totally agree and concur. In addition to supervising I spend my time answering stupid questions from officers who couldn't decide between paper or plastic without calling their sergeant. (that being said, I do have some who are fine, hard working, honest officers that make me proud.)
On top of that, instead of getting involved and assisting when the shit hits the fan,the white shirts at my precinct spend their time Monday morning quarterbacking. I spend half my time looking over my shoulder and covering my ass to protect myself from white shirts looking to generate paper with their signature for the major to see.
The chief needs to take a surprise, unannounced walk through at each of the precincts during each watch to see what is really going on and what is being done while officers and sergeants are having their asses handed to them on the streets. I don't know what my lieutenant is working on but, I don't believe it is police related.
Lt. Ocutard and a federal investigation? For what? .... also, like the Black Panthers voter intimidation case, Eric Holder would not look twice or prosecute if there even was a federal violation. .
You NEVER allow your officers to ask you stupid questions. You instead force them to come to you with their own solutions each time and then both work through a problem or a legal issue.
It amazes me the total idiots that get rank in this agency.
Half these Sgt's literally have no clue what street level drug interdiction is, nor do that have a single informant or know how to work one.
To anon 12:17PM
Your first paragraph was right on the money. If you continue to answer the stupid questions from your officers, then they'll never learn how to do the job correctly. They'll just take the easy way out and call you. The best way to help your officers is to tell them they can't call you anymore and no you won't go to TAC. Tell them to go ahead with their traffic over the main channel. That will cure their desire to have you make their decisions for them.
With all that is going on in the county and the commissioners, I don't understand why any of you complainers don't get out and do something about it. If you know of something that is going on that shouldn't, call or email the FBI office here in Atlanta. They have a guy who's job is to solely deal with DeKalb County. I wrote a long letter not to long ago and guess what??? He called me. So stop bitching and do something about it, I know I am!
On the topic of those LPR cars, yes we have one and I have to drive it from time to time. It is a raggedy piece of shit and doesn't even work right. It scans everything, tags...trees...gates, etc. Auto theft is a joke too. I arrested a guy recently and had to basically handle the whole thing myself due to the fact that auto theft is filled with a bunch of retards. Its like they don't really want to arrest anyone.
AGAIN, most agencies realize the benefit (cost savings & otherwise) of cross training personnel. How many times could PD have bandaged someone on a 41I and suggested they see their Dr. at their convenience rather than rolling out Fire and/or EMS?
No one MADE you take a promotion. If unable to competently perform ask for a demotion (no testing required) and let an energized competent officer take your place.
That's because tickets are all that matters in policing. Where have you been? (Yes I'm being sarcastic.)
What kind of retards live in Atlanta when a CAMPAIGN has to be made to tell people not to shoot their F&^%$#@ GUNS in the air?
Anyone who is not a supervisor in this dept and wants to be one should have their head examined by a medical professional. It aint worth it
Start your year off right folks by escaping from that dump. It will just be a horrific distant memory before you know it.
My God, what has happened to my old county? Where are the real cops like Bobby Burgess, Capt. ET Wagnon, LT Davis, Anglin, Jive Turkey (JT), Tom Morgan, Hugh Combee, Lamar Reynolds, Tom Watson, Sgt. Rogers, etc, etc.
What has happened to my old home?
That got old and moved on.
I got to admit, I do miss the old days. When i came through in the late 90's, there wasn't so much paper work and to froms, as there are now. I remember Sgts chewing me out after a call and that was it. No roll call topic the next day. Now with the new feel good police, officers cant tell officers shit, its frustrating. I remember getting out of newer units for vets. Getting to a call when other officers are there and having to handle the call, as I watched my sgt and the other officers drive away. Yes I made mistakes but also I made decisions. Unlike the current officers who will not make decisions because the don't want to make a mistake. Yes this started with "Vern" and seems like no end in sight. Watching Dekalb fall is like watching a slow train wreck. I'm just glad, I'm now watching from the outside. By the way how is that new major working out East. Dang, took too muck time typing this post, Radio I'll be 10-94 Fairington Pkwy and Fairington Rd.
To anon Jan 2 5:12...Hugh Combee is no longer around. He is patrolling the streets of heaven. You must not have known this.
To 12-28 2:57.....I was a lieutenant and I considered myself responsible for every damn thing that happend on my watch. Nobody kept up with what was going on more than me. I also insisted that my sergeants kept up with what was goin on and closely supervised rookies and slugs and that the watch backed each other all of the time. My sergeants had a plan to crush crime every day as soon as the calls died down. Hint...when a good working officer J1's a thug or DUI etc, that has to go to Grady...don't send the good hard working officer. Send the slugs. They don't care where they spend their shift as long as they don't have to work.Keep the good hard working officer on the road and not baby sitting at Grady or similiar situations.I also considered a good ole ass chewing the best disciplinary action instead of writing guy's up for BS...but I suspect some officers there now won't be able to take a good old fashioned cussing ass chewing.
Lt. 0847,
I wish you were around now... my current Lt. is too busy doing personal stuff to keep up with what is going on or jump in when it hits the fan....you see him when the media is 10-7 and you hear from him he's looking to write you up or put you in your place.
Being a line officer or a sergeant is not what it used to be.....punch the clock (yes, we swipe in and swipe out ) and try and not draw any attention to ourselves during the watch.
I used to look forward to going to work.... now I debate whether or not I should call in sick.
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