Tuesday, October 7, 2014

So Much For Loyalty

The powers at be have an odd way of showing loyalty, especially to the ones who have been loyal to this department for nearly a lifetime.

 It's more then a shame that someone who has given so much to a department, to it's officers and to the citizens of DeKalb County, are basically forced out. Experience can not be replaced. The wealth of knowledge acquired over the years will never be replaced.

It appears the boys club has become threatened in some way. Maybe their intelligence has been challenged, and now they are  in a position to make themselves feel superior. It's really hard to command people who are smarter and have more respect from the line officers than the one holding rank.

Speaking of intelligence, the command staff wallers in an orgy of promotions and demotions, just to be promoted again. Until this department shows respect and loyalty to the ones who have carried it on their backs, it will be nothing more than a scandal ridden circus act.

Out with the old, send in the clowns.

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG. Assistant Chief Holmes should be assigned a badge for Stupidity. Talk about shooting your brothers in the back! And you put out this Order on 10/7 to take affect on 10/11. Four days notice! Some of these guys have devoted their entire lives to this department and this is how honor them? Holmes and the upper clowns should hang their heads in shame.

Anonymous said...

Did Chief Bolton get his job back? From the looks of this transfer memo, it looks like he did.

Anonymous said...

This is the new breed in charge. God help us......

Anonymous said...

Demote all the appointed ones and see how many retire after that takes place.

Anonymous said...

This Transfer Order is nothing more than forcing the good guys to retire. Hell with them. I would take the reassignment and stick it out as long as I could to "make some changes" while I could. You can do nothing if you walk away. Some of you getting transferred have too many supporting you and who will continue to support you. Maybe you should take advantage of that, take your reassignment and ruffle some tail feathers. I would!

Anonymous said...

Dale Holmes says it all in leadership. At least the school board didn't hire him as Chief. Terrell Bolton demoted him and corrupt Wiz Miller promoted him again since they share several things in common. When will the puppet say good bye,..wait ..Hey Doc What do you want me to do next...? Just the same thing as the last era of leadership. Just different people in charge. It might be time to go with 10 officers resigning a month. We will never be up to full strength .

Anonymous said...

So is this the reason everyone is leaving this department, they all are the same on employee relationship. I thought DeKalb was better but lately it just following the trend.
These leaders all live outside the county. Make them live in DeKalb and see how many remain in place and that care about this county.

They use these take home cars just like their personal vehicles. They take family and friends everywhere on the county dime.

Anonymous said...

Just by looking at the signature of Ass Chief Holmes, you can see that he is really a little child. My dog's cursive is better than his. Ignorance is bliss. Holmes is the happiest person on this planet. The bonehead ineptitude of these transfers is utterly amazing. Why transfer folks who have less than a year of time to go? You will just have another period of orientation with their replacements. No regard for the public (trust)working relationship is shown by transferring supervisors and having to train new supervisors again in less than a year.
If Dekalb PD leadership had any sense of honor and integrity they would treat their employees with respect and dignity instead of capricious juvenile vengeance.

Anonymous said...

As a PO from an outside agency with many friends who have served for decades with Dekalb PD, I am utterly amazed at the persistent and endemic failure of Dekalb County to ensure competent leadership at the PD. It's plain for all to see that the level of corruption in Dekalb County runs deep. Why anyone would want to work for Dekalb County is beyond my comprehension. If Dekalb County were a business accountable to investors rather than taxpayers, it would have gone bankrupt decades ago. Until voters become educated and vote respectable and honorable people into office, the charade will continue. But I won't hold my breath on that... not likely to happen in my lifetime. My advice... get out while you can.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 11:12, there is only one problem with your theory. Good, respected and loyal old timers really don't have the ability to make changes for the better of the dept.. All they can REALLY do is be a buffer and make it bearable for the troops. Lets be honest there is only ONE ass running this place. All the underlings with titles are nothing but fall guys if something goes wrong. They are doing absolutely nothing to contribute to the day to day goings on in this dept. They are walking around on egg shells and kissing ass to protect their retirement pay at the highest rank they can. They can be demoted at the will of the BOSS, and have no protection, and they are not willing to take that. So they will continue to walk around with the smell and taste of ass on their lips until they can walk away with a fat retirement. The people in Decatur don't care about experience and they don't care if 50 of us walk out tomorrow. They can replace us with another 2 bodies for what they pay us. And they can spout out numbers and a body count at every community meeting and make the citizens think we are fat and happy with police officers. They were ALL placed in leadership positions for the wrong reason. And they know that they don't have the ability to run this place, nor should they have ever been allowed to try. So you really can't blame them for taking care of themselves, cause that's all they care about at the end of the day. This department is doomed and can not be fixed. Like Rome it to will fall!
Yea, I know Rome was not built in a day...But it did fall and this Rome is falling on your watch. Notice how I did not use the word leadership....
P.S. Hope someone in an elected position is watching over our pension. Hint, hint...cause that is going to hit us all if we allow the County to not fund it and or pay back what they owe it. Then we will all be working again at 70 just to live.

Anonymous said...

Holmes writes like he speaks.

Anonymous said...

Its a crying shame the way the Department treats people who have been loyal for so many years. You may not like Lt. Tom Whitting or Lt. Richardson but I dare you to find anyone who cares more about their troops and the Department more than they do.
Shame on all of you for allowing this to happen.

Anonymous said...

Good loyal,dedicated employees should be allowed to leave on their own terms.

It's ashamed no one in a command position stood up to this.

I guess they were afraid they're hair would get messed up.

Assholes.

Anonymous said...

@October 8, 2014 at 8:13 AM--"As a PO from an outside agency "--then please comment on your own agency!---" I am utterly amazed at the persistent and endemic failure of Dekalb County to ensure competent leadership at the PD."-- Please reveal your secret sauce for police leadership because I hear of "persist and endemic failure" of police leadership from cops at different departments about their departments all the time.---"the level of corruption in Dekalb County runs deep"--I hope you are not refering to us as we fire them and you all hire them. --"If Dekalb County were a business accountable to investors rather than taxpayers,"--- The patrol officers averaged 1,707 calls handled. How many did you handle last year? The department handed out 211,295 tickets. How many did your department hand out? We took $55,290,784 worth of illegal narcotics off the streets. How many drugs did your department get off the street? We did 63,170 hours of training. Your department did how many hours of training? We responded to 748,669 dispatched 911 calls last year. How many calls did your department handle? Arrested 40,792 last year. How many arrest did your department make? -----Dunwoody is the biggest and most aggressive of the other departments in the county. Their call volume is 94% lower, a Dunwoody patrol officer averages 99% fewer calls than a DKPD officer, their department arrested 95% fewer perps, handed out 96% fewer tickets, trained for just 2200 hours and their SWAT had 5 callouts. You can do the comparison and decide if DKPD delivers value to the taxpayers.----"Why anyone would want to work for Dekalb County is beyond my comprehension"---b/c I'm a cop and it's real police work where real police work is needed.--- If you don't work here and want to comment then put the name of your department on your post so we can can comment on your department----I'm disappointed in the transfers but it goes with the career and is par for the course around here.

Anonymous said...

Must be part of some new management strategy. They sure are getting the young officers to quit in droves, maybe they are trying to see if they can get the senior officers to quit too.

In my opinion the department has sunk to a new low and I thought we couldn't go any lower. Forcing out these two guys is just plain crappy. I would not be surprised if both of these guys had 5.0 on their evaluations over the years. They are excellent cops and supervisors.

I think they put this order out this week to coincide with the B.E. trial, hoping that a verdict would come in and no one would think to defend these two. Hoping that everyone would forget. I'll never forget.

Guess after they force out all the senior officers, they can move on to the ones in the middle. The next time someone tries to tell you that the department cares about you, ask them, "What about Tom and Lewis." Personally, I think they wants us all to be mindless, faceless drones.

Anonymous said...

The last time I saw Assistant Chief Holmes he said hello to me.

I think he said hello to me, now I'm not so sure what he said. Seems as though it was hello. Come to think of it, what did he say...

Anonymous said...

When will upper command get it right? Why are they chasing away the longest tenured, most loved and respected police officer (bar none) that is still here busting his button every day? ? One day I pray that this place and those who run it will wake up and smell the coffee. This will devastate morale, not only at NC but in the entire department. Very, very sad. Tom and Maurice, you will both be sorely missed for the foreseeable future. God bless you both.

QUIT LAST YEAR said...

Whittington and his son both gone in 6 months???!!! LOL You go "buddy" go sit at home and collect that big ass check from Dekalb, PBA and POA!!! It will be more money than your making now.

Anonymous said...

Really what do you expect from a Director who is not invested in the county enough to get past the Ga Post exam? Has he even taken the test yet? Don't think he will either. He has made his money. As Clubber Lang said you are a paper (leader) Champion. You don't deserve your position. You stayed only after they offered you more money.. Kinda like Judas.

Anonymous said...

This is truly one of the most disgraceful things I have seen happen in this department and that is saying something. Tom W. gave much of his life to the DKPD and these assholes couldn't even give him the respect of calling him in the office and talking to him? No, they just cut a blue order like he was some POII just out of the academy! They only care about themselves and pleasing that dumb ass Alexander!

Do they really think this will help with the morale in this department? The small amount of respect I had left for these idiots is now gone. I must ask myself if they will do this to those guys what will they do to me?

It is clear with this decision and other similar decisions (SWAT -Gang Unit) that they are intentionally getting rid of the older veterans who actually know what they are doing and replacing them with young dumb asses who will kiss the ring of Alexander and never question his decisions.

I'm not letting Holmes off of the hook here but nothing happens in this department without the OK from Dr. God. The chiefs ask him for a hall pass to go to the bathroom!

Anonymous said...

This shouldn't surprise anyone. Holmes is a complete idiot with his own "god" complex. He's been that way for years. He's incompetent and corrupt, yet has the title of Asst Chief. It goes to show what the top dogs want in this county. They want to keep corrupt ass kissers in high positions knowing they'll do exactly as told. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Holmes did this without anyone's knowledge just to screw the hard working, long time officers. Good luck to all and I'd get the hell out as soon as possible because it's not going to get better.

Anonymous said...

Thank you 10-8, at 441pm.

It seems that trolls look at every chance to diminish DKPD on every topic put on this blog. I am so unconfident that they and they're department have their act so together. It is pathetic to tear down something just because it doesn't fit what you think it should be. There are so many good people here at DKPD, but you will not say a word about that.

Anonymous said...

Has everyone read the policy change regarding grievances? As in, you have none?! Looks like plans are underway and shit's getting scary!

Anonymous said...

I'm quite certain there is no one around this place that Tom Whittington has not touched in some way.
With that being said it is down right despicable that Dale Holmes would transfer a man as compassionate about his job as Tom. This man has paid the ultimate sacrifice and gave his life to DeKalb County as a public servant and valued employee for over 42 years.
Whenever there was a crisis, guess who came a calling every damn sorry ass that sits on the 4th floor looking to Tom for answers.
Yes you cowards hide behind your positions and sign your names on documents and think you deserve respect from the hard workers who make this place go round.
It is downright shameful the things the Dale Holmes has done, covered up, or simply been a part of.
As I sat and watched him walk across the parking lot today with his chest puffed out, wearing his pretty little white shirt I could only wonder would he ever have the respect of the officers as Tom Whittington does.
Well the answer is no, you will leave here a pathetic old man who only used your race to achieve a decent pension.
Rest assured that no one in this department would go into battle with you, you my friend are the Ray Flimister of the past.
What is more disturbing is that our so called Chief Conroy, does not squash this idiotic blue order, speaks volumes about his status huh folks.
Tom you will be missed, but rest assured you are a friend for life!

Anonymous said...

9:57 You got it right, hit the nail on the head and you're right about the smell and taste of ass on their lips.

The traits of professionalism: transparency, honesty and integrity. Are any of those traits presented by those who had a hand in this blue order. Nope!!! Not a shred!!

The way this was carried out is down right despicable and shitty. The department is sliding into the abyss. 7:35 has it right, the department and powers that be don't care about anyone, only themselves. Actions speak louder than words!!

Anonymous said...

Let's see who gets promoted to Lt because of this bullshit. I bet they're friends with Holmes and have never had to buy sunscreen. This department is a joke. Dr. A is all about himself and putting unqualified females in cushy specialized units. Conroy is a powerless figurehead like Obrien was. Holmes is an idiot that no one can understand. Harris is a 22. Yarboro is egomaniac and has no business running cid. We're doomed. E

Anonymous said...

First let me say thank you Lt. Whittington for all of your years of committed service and to you as well Lt. Richardson. I can’t leave yet but my 25+ years of service will be over soon if I can just hold on. I wish you both God Speed and health for many years to come.
See this is what happens, when the cameras are not rolling and the media is not around; you have cowardly acts like this from so called leaders and command staff. They are simply bored and want to bully some people around.
The great God DR. jumps on a plane and takes a local reporter with him and flies off to Ferguson to save the day and stop all the violence. He gets there and meets with the community and the police and tells them they need to get to know one another. The God DR said on TV the problem was that the police were disconnected from the community and that needed to be fixed.
So I wonder why he did the exact opposite of what he was saying on TV, he took an officer who has lived and policed in his community for 42 years, an officer and a supervisor who know the north central area better than anyone else in the county. This Officer knows more people in his community and has been very helpful in solving many crimes just because of who he knows and how some of the usual suspects work. But who cares about all that the great GOD DR just wanted to flex his muscles and so he moved a pillar of the community just to screw with him.
Dr. Alexander you remind me of a little man standing behind a curtain speaking into a loud speaker with a thunderous voice and making all kinds of loud sounds saying I AM OZ the great and powerful, but in reality you are just a small shell of a man that just wants to try and intimidate the people working for you and you will use them and this county for everything you can and then move on your way. I hope I am around to see you humbled and to see you fall on your face because you can’t treat people like this forever KARMA is a bitch.
This department was built on the backs of men and women like the two men you are screwing with, that is why I chose to work here. To work her you needed things like integrity, confidence, morals, dignity, and honor. See you have your fake Doctorate you love talking about, but those words you just heard have never been in you vocabulary or a part of your character. I would say get some of your command staff to explain what they are but they don’t know either because they traded all that for power and rank and a chance to climb all over each other to get more power and rank.
You will be fine and I’m sure you sleep like a baby at night but one day you will be treated as bad as you have treated others and I hope when it happens we are all able to watch and enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

I'm no fan of Cedric Alexander. I think he has failed you miserably. But let me just plant this little seed for thought.

Shit always comes from the top down. Alexander reports to the County CEO. Do you really think these changes happened without Lee May's knowledge? Was Lee May unaware of the ramifications of these decisions, did he approve them, or do we have a problem here Houston? I'm just sayin.

Good luck to you all, and thank you for everything you do to keep DeKalb County safe.

Anonymous said...

This is off topic but I just read the last posted pension minutes from June. I never see any comments about the county repaying to the pension, the millions that out pension gave the county to impliment the fiasco early retirement from several years ago. Do we think that any member of the pension board will ever ask that question? Get an answer? Get it included in the minutes so we all can see the answer? or do the county and the pension board just hope that we forget?I'd like to see some figures on this. What was given, what is owed, how much is being paid back and the expected date of final payment. There are interesting comments about pension board members physically attending the meetings as opposed to attending by phone but the final answer was not clear to me. Maybe someone else can read it and give an opinion on that and why the board just faintly skirts over andy mention of a COLA for retirees.Maybe our retiree rep can answer that one for us?

Robbie Robertson said...

Anonymous,

It’s great that someone is actually reading the pension board meeting minutes. The board worked diligently to get a pension board website hosted and ran by the pension board. The minutes posted on this site are a legal document and are approved by the board prior to posting. This assures the members and retirees are getting accurate information.

In reference to your questions, the majority of business conducted at the regular meetings is standard investment and monitoring of the pension fund assets and managers. As a pension board we have no control over, benefit improvements, health insurance, or reduction in benefits or colas. That is totally in the commissioners hands. We are charged with managing the pension assets, and your board along with our consultant Callan & Associates has outperformed the 100’s of public plans in Callan’s data base over the last several years. Yes, the pension board did make a loan to the county for the early out and the loan amount was around $14 million. For clarification, the county is paying the loan back at an interest rate of 7.5%, and they are making their payments as required. This is not only monitored by the board but the board’s actuary the Segal and Company.

As far as the Cola for retirees this has been addressed numerous times and is an ongoing process. The pension fund is only funded at approximately 64% and as fiduciaries of the fund we cannot recommend a cola without funding. The CEO and Board of Commissioners are looking at several recommendations from the board to implement a cola, but this will have to be funded by the county at this point.
As far as attendance to the meetings, over the last three years I have only missed one meeting by being in attendance or calling in. If there is an issue that requires a controlling vote I can vote at two meetings yearly via phone, if I am needed to make a quorum or there is a need to be in attendance the chairman lets me know and I am in there.

Lastly let me thank you for taking the time to visit the pension website and reading the meeting minutes, if more people like you did this there would be a lot less rumors floating around.

Robbie Robertson
Pension Board Retiree Rep

Anonymous said...

Just think if Dale Holmes was ever the Chief of Police.

Hope he leaves as soon as he gets his 30 .



We could hope someone demotes him, he would surely retire .

These are long time officers treated in a bad way.

Anonymous said...

Lets be honest ol Dale is a complete moron, but he still only has the rank of assistant chief.
So what does that mean, well I will tell you. That leaves a Police Chief (spineless coward), a Public Safety Director (who sucks), and a CEO(that blows) that could override his ass.
So that tells me it came from higher up, you do the math.
Enjoy your retirement Lt's you earned them.

Anonymous said...

Just curious. Who put the pension at 64% funded? The investments? The county not contributing what they are supposed to contribute? The fiasco early out that put more people on the pension rolls that they ever imagined would take up the offer, that never should have been implimented including the $17 million the pension gave the county to impliment the fiasco early out? Just curious.

Anonymous said...

Thats $17 million that is not working for the good of the pension.

Anonymous said...

Let's see the latest BLUE ORDER ... Just retired 90 years of experience. It doesn't matter if you like the way they ran a watch it worked. Then you have the new guys trying to make an impression that they can lead this department. Guess what , they are the ones leading to its down fall.
If they decided to stay with the department , why put more pressure on them , if they were doing everything correctly?

Anonymous said...

Let see who is next on their hit list , making people unhappy with working here. Getting rid of all the threats to their knowledge.

Anonymous said...

It's going to explode with the current Command Staff.

Look at who they are and how they got to their rank.

If you been here for any length of time , you already know the answer.

Anonymous said...

What and where has Jim Conroy been and what has he done to lead this department. I guess you have to look at polictical correctness for our leadership. They have demoted and promoted the same people on each change of leadership.

Anonymous said...

These appointed positions will be what the history of DeKalb Police will be remember for till the end.

So every election we will have a new command structure.

The police department is and has been run by elected officials since Vernon was put in office. Him and Little Vern ruined this county.

Anonymous said...

The new ordinance says that they can demote at will without merit system appeal. I guess these were the ones to test this new procedure.

Anonymous said...

Well none of the command staff came to these Lieutnants retirement party. Only the precinct commanders were in attendance.

Anonymous said...

Loyalty... time and rank...Is it true that POII's will now be getting priority over Lt's and Sgt's for the few take homes that are trickling out?

Anonymous said...

There are a few good lieutenants left that should probably be promoted to Major. The spineless Captains ie Porter, Johnson just name a couple could not lead a boy or girl scout troop much less police officers. I sure hope whoever is in charge takes a long look at this and appoints the next group accordingly. I can think of a few that if promoted probably would not piss anyone in the department off at all if they were promoted. They have worked hard and earned the respect of a lot of folks in the department